Big Win for Illinois, big win for all of us.

Judge Richard Posner stated as the main voice for the court that, "The Supreme Court has decided that the amendment confers a right to bear arms for self-defense, which is as important outside the home as inside. The theoretical and empirical evidence (which overall is inconclusive) is consistent with concluding that a right to carry firearms in public may promote self-defense..."

Heck yeah! Couldn't agree with him more.
The SunTimes blog took a poll regarding the matter, inquiring as to whether or not Illinois should have CCWs, or if not.  It is a breath of fresh air to say the least when we see a court, federal or otherwise step up and actually say what the purpose of firearms are for responsible citizens, and to protect those rights wholeheartedly!  I know this is only a small step and I am sure Illinois will concoct some sort of nonsensical law yet again that makes obtaining a permit nigh impossible but the bullying of the state has definitely been noticed and pushed back for once.  If you live in Illinois please thank the judge and his party members for utilizing logic and going against the grain; especially as of late, between Costas and Whitlock, Oregon, etc this is not exactly the most popular decision, but the right decision seldom is.  

The results are fantastic, and it's only been about 24 hours since the article was originally posted.

Link to the original article by SunTimes

For Home Defense the Shotgun is the best!!!

Scroll down to the inserted page break to continue where you left off.

Hey folks, so let’s say you’re new to firearms and you walk into a firearm store to purchase a new weapon, or your first for home defense.

The clerk sitting behind the table of glass says,
“Hello sir/ma’am,how can I help you?”

You respond, “I need a gun for home defense.”

He/she then will more than likely say,
“Oh well I have here a remington 870...” or “I have a mossberg 500... the perfect choice for home defense!”

Let’s pump the brakes for a second.  Now you won’t be a sucker for buying this and you know it is not a bad choice because a gun is better than no gun, but based on my training and experience it certainly is not the best choice.

If you don’t own a gun, or if you do own firearms but think you’re set, maybe you should have a go at the following:

• Go get a broom, or long lead pipe, or even a plank of wood that is similar to the length of a rifle
• (Look for something about the length of 30”).  
• Now take your object of length (easier there tiger) and go to your son’s, daughter’s, guest’s rooms, and at least one bathroom and close all of their doors.  
• Go to your bedroom, close your bedroom door, set the object in the closet and close the door.  Go sit on your bed.  

• Get up, retrieve your object and hold it up like a rifle.  
• If you don’t have any training that’s fine just emulate for now.  
• Now leave your room and go back and open up every door to every room that you closed and walk into those rooms, and then leave the rooms (don’t forget the bathroom) and make your way back to your bedroom.  During all of this never let go of the object.

Now imagine that you had to carry your child while doing this, had a phone in the other hand, or had to drag an adult into another room..  Also imagine that the broom you were holding weighed 8-12lbs or 7-9lbs (doesn’t sound like much but when the weight is all on your hand and wrist and is not evenly distributed, time is against you).

The Academy Review Pt. I

"Everything here happens for a reason..."

No truer words were ever spoken about preparing us for the mentality for this experience and training.

You can find justification for about 99% of everything that occurs at the academy and more than likely your experiences will hold true for any academy that you attend.

We had memorization assignments that were required almost every day.  This was a well hated practice at as it is something that is not done at most academies.  Memorization usually consisted of penal codes, vehicle codes, general statutory laws, definitions, etc.  At times it could be very helpful and useful, other times it was just a major distraction from the actual class material and activities.

Senile:  You may have to deal with staff who may be "out of date."  Deal with it now and accept it.  You're going to get staff that are like that and you are going to get into encounters like this anyway.  Just take it for what it is and figure out how to win.

Understanding hypocrisies:

Firearms instruction:  Understand, please, I beg you, UNDERSTAND that the training you received at the academy in regards to your service weapons were the absolute basic, core, MINIMUM!  You need to seek further training from other sources.  Do not just rely on what you received at the academy you will be ill equipped in dealing with the dangers of the world today.

Intelligence: I see a lot of cadets towards the end prepare to sell their learning domains.  I suggest you keep them.  Already I feel some of the most basic of information slipping out of my memory.  I am not constantly doing it anymore, I am no longer applying it 8 hours out of the day, so naturally it is dissipating.  I do what I can when I watch TV, easy dropping on the general conversation, watching people drive when I am operating a vehicle, and try to pick out violations and remember what code, or where it would generally be in the penal code.  Please do the same.

I haven't been to a ton of interviews yet, but out of the few I've been to almost half of the interviews would eventually bring up a PC and ask me to recite the elements.

Get as much time with the staff and administration as you can.  Those one on one moments are awesome (usually unless you're getting yelled at), and you will at times learn more in five minutes with a veteran than spending 10 hours reading an LD, I AM NOT EXAGGERATING.

Failing tests or scenarios....  A, don't do it.  B, if you do, do it, understand why.  Don't put the blame on others, and don't beat the crap out of yourself.  This happens.  Think of it as the equivalent to a consensual encounter going bad and then your sergeant chews you out for it.  Ok, that sucks, too bad so sad, but suck it up move on, there will be other days.  Or think of it like this; you're talking to a suspect and suddenly he punches you in the face.  Are you just going to self implode and cover your face and hope he doesn't hit you again or are you going to tap into that Type A persona and let that little cave man come out and demolish this now without a doubt criminal?  HULK SMASH!  

Don't get out of shape:  There were plenty of cadets who came out of my class who I still consider not fit for duty.  They simply do not have the strength, agility, stamina, or coordination to handle what is required of us. Yes they passed the POST battery, and the PT tests, but getting just passed the minimal standards is not an accomplishment for this line of work.  It may be a personal achievement and those who do reach their goals are to be commended and should be, but consider this...
Keep running, keep pushing the earth down, keep jumping.  Go hiking with a nice load out.  Make sure you are getting your body used to carrying extra gear/weight on it.

The vast majority of inmates work out all of the time.  They plan, plot, conspire, strategize their new goals all day every day.  It isn't so much that all of them are evil dirt bag scum suckers, part of it is just that they have nothing else to do, or that is the main mentality taken on by the majority of the population at the facility.  These guys (and gals) are training, it may not be as sophisticated or refined as yours but they are still training.  You may have advanced level training that you sought immediately after graduating or heck maybe even while you were active in the academy.  But there is no substitute for the fundamentals.  That may be all they have, but a master of fundamentals is far more dangerous than a renaissance man.  TRAIN.

Oh and get your conceal weapons permit from your respected county.  Don't tell them that it's because you want to protect the innocent against the evil please...  You are of a different mindset now (hopefully), you are a trained observer.  You are a civilian when you are not wearing that uniform and badge.  Witness first, defender of the earth second.

More to come later...

Graduation

Graduation

Graduation 3rd ranking  overall out of 48
Class Leader, youngest, and leader of the largest class to ever graduate this academy.
Winner of the Firearms Excellence Award: 1500Rds Pistol, 98.7% accuracy.  
Nominated for a Scholarship.

It's the little things

When you are being instructed in the 101 basics in a subject and then suddenly get thrown into a situation where you need to perform at a much higher level than you are prepared for, you might not be very successful.  Especially when it comes to firearms training, you need someone who can spot your errors immediately and offer remedies.

I've been working with quite a few cadets who are struggling with the new combat course that we suddenly find ourselves in.

We started off only shooting from the holster, with no time limit, from the 3, 5, 7, and 15 yard line.  Then we added some times elements, then eventually added some kneeling.  During this there was no real pushing of time limits, or true urgency.  It was all very basic, very core.

Now we have been introduced to a combat course.

The course is completed by the following:

1. You sit in a police cruiser, and upon a command you exit the vehicle and kneel behind a barricade (barrel), and fire 6 shots from 25 yards at a b-27 target (full size).
Anything in the black is considered a hit.

2. You move on to the first barricade at 20 yards from the 2 targets.
     You fire 4 shots reload and fire another 2 on the target on the right side.  You switch to the support side and fire another 6 shots on the target on the left side.
Anything inside the 7 ring is considered a hit.

3. You move on to the second barricade still at the 20 yard line, and go into the kneeling position and lean out as far as needed to engage the 3 targets, one by one.
You fire two shots in the first target on the right, reload, fire another 2 shots on the second target, and fire another 2 shots on the third target.
Anything inside the 7 ring is considered a hit.

4. You move to the final stage at the 7 yard line and there are 2 targets with 1 friendly in the middle of the two.  You perform a mozambique, or two in the body one in the head on both targets.
That is all.
Anything inside the 7 ring, and any area in the headbox is considered a hit.
You can miss a maximum of 6 shots, and you have a maximum of 2 minutes to complete the course.
For every missed shots you are penalized by adding an additional 3 seconds to your RAW time.

Over 20 people failed what you just read above you.  They couldn't do it.  Remember before you get all, "WHAT!?  What a buncha noobs!  I can't believe these are the people that are going to come and save my life, or are supposed to save my life blah blah blah."  Remember the quality of instruction we've been given has been fairly poor and incoherent.  We also have a lot of conflicting ideologies being thrown at us by the many instructors that come to the range.  There is very little cohesion and evolution going on here and thus we're stuck in the 80's when it comes to shooting.

I have to nag and nag and nag to get the instructors to find something wrong with my shooting, or just to pay attention to my shooting.
They've seen what I can do and find it acceptable so they move on and hardly bother.  They usually mention   something procedurally-(i know it's not a word)-based, "you kind of slipped when you ran to the 2nd barricade..." and that's that.

Cookie cutters are not acceptable in my opinion.  It supposedly separates the men from the boys, but what about the boys who are already men?  What I mean is, how do you improve those who are already doing well rather than just accepting that they meet the sub-par standards of our administration and that's that.

There are many glaring errors in the practices of the instruction, and a strong lack of willingness to diagnosis what is wrong with the shooter.

I like standing off to the right behind the shooter when they are engaging so I can see what their hands are doing then after they are done I like to see their targets so I can confirm my what I saw with the results down range.
I don't get to do this when at the range, all I get to do is stand about 25 yards back and try to see what they are doing.  Basically all I get to do is assume...sadly.


During the last year and a half I have had an assortment of equipment changes and fundamental changes in my shooting.  I have many opportunities to spend time focusing on why I suck, and why others are better than me.  During this journey I made MANY mistakes and made an effort to do what I could to understand them and FIX them.  Why am I pulling left?  How come when I use my glock the slide doesn't lock back?  How come I used to shoot better on the move and now I'm terrible?  Why is my accuracy awesome at 10 yards and in but suddenly when we just move another 5 to 10 yards back it all goes out the window?
How come when I shoot with my support side hand do I lose a massive amount of recoil management but still have great trigger control?  How come, after all this training, do I still get my ass handed to me when I go to local competitions?

It has been a work in progress to say the least and I am highly grateful for the opportunities that I have had. If I had not had the chance to find all these failure points and instead just went through some academy shot to their "Standards" and was happy with that, I never would have EVER gotten any better.

By having all this history behind me it allows me to have a lot of empathy for fellow shooters.  When they start to experience "errors" I have my own journey to fall back on and let them know, "Hey when I experienced something like this, or exactly this I felt the same, but when I did a and b, I got these results and I find that this is better."  Experiencing failing points is how a well experienced Army Ranger would say, "you break your plateau."  It is simply a pot hole in our journey.  Sometimes the wheel falls off and we need a break, time to mend and then we get going again.  Sometimes we hit it and go what was that and move on (this can be a good thing and a bad thing).  Every now and then we have our hiccups, its fine.  No pity parties!

By the way, if you take instruction from someone and they are not demonstrating what they expect you to do themselves be wary, something is amiss to say the least.  I don't like instructors who stand there on the shooting line, shooting with you the entire time just showing off, but instructors should always be willing to demonstrate the tasks being requested of the student at a moments notice.  You have to show students what they are working towards and how you do it.  Telling someone to run a shooting course and then grading them and kicking them out of the academy because they did poorly when we have no idea whether or not you could do it yourself is bad form, and arguably unethical.   Training students for over 120 hours and not firing a single shot yourself is ludicrous and I have yet to meet one single worth-their-salt instructor who has done different or told me different.  I'm not asking for every instructor to be better than every shooter they are training but at least set a respectable bar.

Keep your filthy mouth shut

Not to talk myself up, I just want to make that clear before I go on.  But I am elated to have the little skills/experience that I possess when it comes to the manual of arms.  Not because I get called Robby Leatham, but because I get to help out other cadets.  No BS, I LOVE that part the most at the range.  Someone comes up to me and says , "Hey man, I'm drifting left and I don't know why..."
OK then, let's dry practice.
(They draw, point in and press)
OK.  Don't move your hands, but look at your trigger.  You've got too much finger on the trigger.  Hook and curl, there you go, middle of the pad, good.  Ok, looks good.  Wait, fix your tang, good.  OK, let's see how that works out for you.

They come back 10 minutes later, "Dude, I'm not drifting to the left anymore!"
Puts a smile on my face every time.

It's also a little upsetting sometimes (just a little bit, it's not like it infuriates me or anything.  It's not like I wanna throw a bowling ball at a wall or anything... I see people who are shooting like absolute garbage, just junk, and then go around telling people; who are struggling themselves, and "teach" them how to shoot...  Telling them, "I don't do that trigger reset bullshiz, I used to shoot great, but since they're makin' us do that crap I shootin' like crap."

Like hell you did.  Trigger reset is not an absolution but it's pretty damn close.  Wyatt Earp even talked about trigger reset, he didn't call it trigger reset, they didn't have that type of nomenclature back then.  If you examine his notes, journals, etc on shooting you'll see exactly what he's talking about.  He describes it in paragraph form instead of just spouting off two words, but you'll see that he was talking about sight alignment, hard focus, smooth pull to the rear, trap, reset, etc.  THESE ARE NOT NEW CONCEPTS.  They haven't been in hundreds of years!  The equipment changes, and the concepts are slightly modified, and codified, renamed, and that is all.

And do me a favor and the rest of man kind and SHUT UP when you yourself can't perform to a standard where the bar is already pretty low.  Keep your filthy mouth shut.  If you're shooting near perfect scores, or perfect scores : ), then go ahead.  If someone approaches you, help them out.  Don't go around when you can barely hold your own firearm probably and tell others what to do.  If you see something slight, a small hole in another person's game, be candid and just point it out to them real quick.  Be polite, no one is an expert, there are just those who understand and want to continue to grow.

I LOVE CRITICISM, as long as it is constructive.  IT IS HOW I GET BETTER.  When I did theatre back in high school and college, the only way I got the scenes PERFECT and excelled was when the instructor tore me apart.  After that I would go back to the drawing board and reinvent myself.  Then I would come back and boom, and their mouths would be on the floor and their eyes wide enough to be headlights.  I understand though that doesn't work for everyone, so I don't go around ripping people new one's when they're making mistakes.  Anyway I had a heck of a time getting the instructors to help me because I was doing well.  THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.  I don't care if a student is shooting a near perfect bullseye, if they are drifting even ever so slightly to the right HELP THEM!  Make everyone as great as they can be.  Maximize people's potential with what little time we have.  Don't just stand there and tell them,"I don't know, most people would just be happy with that."

...sneer*
Look none of us are most people, we are Cadets.  We are future paper pushers, ticket writers, report takers, donut eating, coffee slurping, dip chewing, problematic-back-problem-riddled-protectors of the public.  And the last thing I want on my mind is a lack of confidence in my abilities when I'm about to do a designated head shot on Mr. PCP because we've been fighting for the last 15 minutes and my arms are becoming sand bags and Mr. PCP is still going strong.  I don't wanna say as I draw down and mentally think, "oh that's right I drift left, I need to watch out for that."  It needs to be, "draw, point in, bang."

Good luck, and I'm not much of a religious man by any means but I drank coffee this morning and found out what a REM cycle is again so, God bless.    

Night Shooting

Basic night shooting course.

We did some true night shooting (pitch black), and then did some low light night shooting.

You should go out at night, or dry practice in a dark room and try out a few different techniques.  Smith, Ayoob, Harris, Barricade, FBI, etc.  Try'em out and decide what type of flashlight would meet your needs.
Do you need momentary on?  No, but it makes things a lot easier sometimes.  I like flashlights with a momentary on tailcap, but also one with a on/off, momentary on, switch on the body itself so I can use my thumb on switch and just place my palm/hand firmly on the left side of the weapon and simply point at what I need to engage at.  I like the momentary on tail cap so I can cigar hold the light.  That usually requires a piece of material or some sort of obstruction, something for your index and middle finger to brace against so you can leave your thumb on the back and operate it with one hand.

I've been using the Olight M20S flashlight, and it's a pretty great light, but its head is too large to orient above the trigger guard.  I tend to point the light too low to truly identify my target when I'm beyond 15 yards.  The next time we shoot I will use my Fenix PD30, much smaller in diameter and length.  Problem is, no momentary on, so we'll see how that works for me.

Low light shooting was an issue for me.  For the first time, out of 600 rounds I finally missed some shots.  We have some b-27 full size targets, black and white targets.  Black for daytime, white for night time.  During our third outing the instructors told us that only shots within the 8 ring would count from here on out.  So my shots were inside the 7, but per the new rules it was a no go, so I ended up throwing 5 rounds from the 15 at night.

What I experienced during the night shoot was when I pointed in, hard focused and all I saw was a white wall, just a dull grayish white wall, no center of mass, no lines to reference myself to, nothing just a monolith of white.   So the first few initial shots tend to be right where the need to be or close to, but as I recovered from recoil, I had no reference to tell me where I was, in relation to the target; center? Not centered? Don't know...
So all my shots started drifting left until I was finally outside of the 7.

I needed something to help me figure out where the middle was so I started using the target's head as a reference point.

BEEP! draw the firearm, point in, fire.  Trigger reset as I simultaneously check my sight alignment, and confirm with the head of the target.  Good?  Good!  Hard focus, BANG!  Recover, trigger rest, check head/align sights, confirm, confirmed, BANG!

But with all that going on I probably shot super slow right?  Nope, still the first one out of the box, and still the first one done.  Also I got a 100%.  25 yards, 10 shots standing, reload, kneel, ten shots, stand, reload, done.  We were doing it in 35 seconds, but we had a lot of people not being able to do it, so now we're at 45 seconds.  We still have people going over time. I'll have to help out more.

I got called Robby Leatham by a Commander last night, probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.  Felt kind of bad for another cadet.  The same Commander that paid me the compliment has a cadet there who is being sponsored by his department, and he was not doing very well at all, he gave the cadet hell but realized that wasn't working after awhile so he came back and had a quiet word with him.  Seems like that department really wants him, good for him he's one of the smartest cadets in the class.

I also found out the other day that my sights have been off this whole time.  Which was good and bad.  We were doing a drill and I decided that I was not going to care and was just going to check my sights.  I aimed to the bottom right corner of the center of a circle and fired; dead center, fired again; dead center, again, again, again, dead center.  I highly doubt that I would have that type of repeat-ability if I was heeling, or anticipating recoil, which tends to be the case for most shooters who go up and to the left.  An instructor had a sight tool, so we bumped my rear sight to the right a little bit and it has most definitely helped for those 25 yard shots.  So thanks for that sir!

I lost quite a few rounds because of those night shoots, so far I've lost 10 out of 750 rounds so far.  There are others who have only lost about 5 at this point,..  They take their time and our developing great marksmanship skills and their groups are super impressive.

Apparently we are one of the few POST Academies in CA that throw people out for poor shooting.  Most academies just make note of scores, and put a few comments in your record: So and So shows great understanding and skill in the manipulation of a handgun.  OR.  So and so shows very little understanding and skill in the manipulating of a handgun.  Then they post your scores.  We have a new director this class, and he is wanting to change the old standard a little bit, and give people more of a chance.  I think it is unreasonable to kick people out on the second day of shooting.  At the same time the first test was so easy whether you were a beginner or not you should be able to pass without issue.  I can see both sides of the coin and neither one is 100% right, the nature of the beast I guess.

The Wall of Shame

5.11 Taclite 2 Gloves
I really wanted to like'em but they are not duty ready.
From 5.11's website, "Our lightest glove meets the demands of patrol, driving, and everyday work."


Demands of patrol and everyday work eh?  I do not know how 5.11 defines "everyday work" but these gloves are not ready for duty use, or everyday work; unless your work requires you to knit teddy bears, oh nevermind these gloves would fall apart doing that as well.


"Duty gloves" in my opinion have two minimum/basic operations:  

• Protect the users hands from scratches, tears, etc. 
• Must be durable.
• Allow fine dexterity movement.

These gloves EXCEL at allowing fine dexterity movement, they are fantastic in how much tactile feel they allow, and flexibility.  
The lining in the gloves also provides some warmth, not enough to help your butt out in minus temperatures, but fine for the 40-30 degree areas.


These gloves have absolutely NO durability or longevity behind them.  They wear on you fast, like that friend that can't handle more than two beers or that opinated person in a classroom that has to weigh in on everything delaying the events for the rest of the day that have to transpire in the duration of the class time, or that geico commercial that happens to be the one and only one you don't like.  I believe they call this digressing...  


MOVING ON.  


I took these gloves out shooting twice, did some very minor house work, maintenance with my vehicle, and over course dry practiced.       


After that there was a small hole on the left glove's index finger on the side; no idea how that happened, the upper portion of the palm was showing major signs of wear and stretching, and on the right glove there was a large hole in the palm...


At approximately 35 dollars for a pair, you'd think that these gloves would have a pair.  
Oh you see what I did there?


But instead they don't, which is highly disappointing considering the amount of maneuvering you have while using these gloves.  I could totally understand that these gloves would fall apart say after something along the lines of being in country, or taking a four day advanced carbine course, or building a house but I barely used them and their falling apart at the seams, literally.


Summary: Gloves are not patrol ready, or everyday work ready.

Safariland 567 BL (belt loop)

Ordered the Safariland 567 BL

1.50-1.75"

          Simply put this attachment is made to replace the T-Adapter that comes stock with  Safariland holsters, which are meant for belts sized between 2 to 2.25 inches wide.  The BL (Belt loop -oooohhhhh FANCY) is sized to fit more normal sized belts, namely 1.5 inches and 1.75 inches.  This device is perfect if you do not want to go to the range wearing all your leather gear.  
          Now you can wear your everyday belts but still build that muscle memory without hauling all that extra leather.  This device is handy for those looking for a solution to get some training in with their gear but without establishing to everyone and their mother that they are law enforcement.  "But why wouldn't you want people to know that your law enforcement Jerry"  Well friend because a lot of people don't like LEO's, and more importantly some people target law enforcement and like to do bad things to them when they least expect it.  Example, or anecdote:  Recently went apartment hunting to find somewhere closer to my academy.  I tend to refer to people by mam and sir anyways, but this Sir asked me if I was prior military.  I told him that I was attending a police academy.  He became very uncomfortable and suddenly very quiet, and told me that while he had no problem with me or what I was doing, "Don't tell ANYONE else here what you are or what you're becomin'."  Good stuff.  Also some people just get all pasty white and become very socially awkward, strange, strange, strange.

Anyhow, I'll add an update to the aforementioned gear once received.

Take care guys and gals.

    

Safariland 6285 SLS Holster

The Safariland 6285 "SLS" Holster is one of the many holsters available from Ol' Roger's ex-company.

       The 6285 utilizes the Self Locking System, which to my understanding is a series of two events.  One the holster is molded to fit the firearm, and the hood that rests above the firearm once it is seated in the holster locks into place.  The hood is the primary source of your retention.

The 6280 

The functioning of the hood is superb.  It affirmatively locks into place and will not disengage unless the hood is pressed in the correct location.  There is a flat ledge located on the left side of the hood.  The ledge has serrations to provide a tactile feel and of course traction for one's thumb to stop on, for those you know... stressful situations like gun fights.

The 6285 rides 1.5 inches lower that the 6280

The 6285 Holster in its "standard" capacity is a level II retention system.  It can easily be upgraded to level III or level IV by adding a sentry hood, which essentially guards the top front of the hood that the user utilizes to disengage in order to get to the firearm.


       The location of lever or button which disengages the lock is easily found and actuated.  Due to the intuitiveness of the design it is also very easy to "relearn" one's presentation and get those times back down to where they were before.

      The holster is truly designed for duty use, and excels as such.  The STX version is preferred by me as I tend to utilize kydex holsters primarily, and from "research" not  actual use the STX tends to wear less.

     Now, for the problems...

  If you mess up the draw expect to be behind the power curve for quite awhile.

       The hood needs to have no interference in order to be pushed forward and cleared so the firearm can be drawn.  If you draw the firearm before the hood is fully cleared the firearm will be locked up.  You will not be able to disengage the hood the rest of the way, nor will you be able to wriggle the handgun out of what space you created.  The solution to this mess that you've gotten yourself into is to push the firearm back straight down into the holster to fully seat it, then push the hood fully forward, and attempt to draw again.     Simply put, you mess up, you start over.  
             This is of no fault of the holster, it is the user utilizing the device improperly. 


Additional Note(s):
          If you are one to modify you firearm by adding something along the lines of grip tape to the frame of your Glock or other polymer frame you're going to have some major issues.  If the grip tape on the firearm is placed anywhere beyond the grips the draw becomes binds up on the inside of the holster.  This can be easily remedied but it may be against your department's uniform/equipment regulations.


        I decided to go Gary Cooper style on my holster and add a thigh strap to the system.  I ordered a piece of 3/4" nylon from www.strapworks.com with some fast-tek style buckles at the end and had it shipped to me for about 3-4 dollars.
I then loosened the allen screws on the back of the holster, just enough to allow some space to feed the thin piece of nylon through.  Placed the nylon through the opening, re-tightened the screws, fitted the strap, cut the excess and ALAS I HAD ENDED MY JOURNEY THROUGH PERDITION!  I essentially turned the holster into a high ride thigh rig. It's comfortable and absolutely functional, but I know that my academy won't allow it for styles (CLASS A, B, C, ETC).  Range qualifications days should not be a problem, which is my first concern in regards to this holster.

Hope this was beneficial to you folks.

MRE's For Thought
Safariland has one of the most confusing catalogue systems.  Just take your time and work though it.

Online Tech Support is pretty worthless, they will do as little as they need to.

       Phone Support will do their best to answer you questions.  So if you have any doubts or questions CALL THEM, because they seem to have their stuff together, online support seems to be ran by a totally different company it's quite frankly B.S.




UPDATE as of 1/15/2012: 
 Safariland has launched a new website/script to allow you to search for holsters through their entire catalogue to find the exact style/model holster you want for your firearm.

HOLSTER FINDER CLICK HERE

UPDATE as of 1/17/2012
Got a question in the mail the other day about why I went with the SLS when I could have used the ALS (auto locking system).  Simply put, Murphy...  A little more elaboration.  I prefer as few mechanisms as necessary in my systems.  I want great retention, but not at the cost of having to push down, flip, push again, pull.  I do not like overly complicated systems, or systems that have numerous mechanisms.  The more parts there are the more likely there is something to go wrong.  If you want more protection than just the SLS, you could always had the hood guard to the top/front of the holster.  You can add this hood to the ALS systems as well if you want to go juggernaut style, but in my opinion that is way too much junk on your hip.  Get an SLS and a TDi Knife.  Set up the TDi knife for left handed operation, so that way your right hand can trap the firearm and your left can grab the knife and start performing some level 4 style retention.

Trijicon HD Night Sights 1st Impressions

After two days of handling my Glock 17 with the Trijicon HD Night Sights (Orange), I think that theyare really awesome Novak style sights.  They maximize the sight radius on your firearm, the orange (or yellow) photo-luminescent paint assists you in snapping from target to target, or point to point, and there is a decent amount of day light on the sides of the front sight for those more precision based shots.

So far the paint is kind of a let down.  It does not soak up ambient light or light produced by fixtures in a home very well at all.  It soaks up LED light like a champ, but if one didn't "charge" their front sight the paint is not that advantageous.

In some quick tests with the sights in testing the photo-luminescent paint on the front sight I found the following.  When I charged the front sight by using a flashlight with a max output of 48 lumens and held it directly in front of the sight for a duration of 30 seconds.  After the light source was taken away the front sight glowed a brilliant orange in pitch darkness for 30 seconds.  After the initial 30 seconds the orange dimmed significantly but the front sight still had a strong amount of orange glow around the tritium.  It stayed at this range for an additional 2 minutes and 30 seconds and there was a again a fairly sudden drop off in visibility.  The orange ring was visible but not nearly as much.  It held this glow range for another 2 minutes then dropped off to a point where it looked as though there was a slight red tint glowing around the green front.

So far, I like the sights very much, but I feel that the ideology of using the luminescent paint on the front as a sort of transitional sight, for one to move from one environment to another without having an extreme change in your sight's visual pattern.  Example:  During the day at the range, when I draw the firearm I see an orange front sight, at night I see an orange front sight; however, this is not the case.  The only way the orange really shows itself in darkness is if you charge the sight with a flashlight or some other pinpoint-able source of luminescence.

They are fine sights and they seem to be very accurate so far, but in my opinion I think Trijicon is over selling the paint.

Day time activity (BRIGHT SUNLIGHT DAY TIME) the front sight shows up magnificently, and FAST!

Early morning, foggy weather, overcast, or evening periods the paint is rubbish.

However I did note that the tritium in these sights seems to be say sharper than average.  I have had trijicons and meprolights and have been impressed with the quality and brightness of both.  When I first saw the tritium I thought that the HD's were in fact brighter than any other version from trijicon or sets from meprolight.  It isn't that the HD's are brighter they are more focused, and clearer, which gives the appearance of being brighter.  

This officer successfully did what so many others fail to do.

He got off the line of attack and immediately engaged.

Too many officers get off the line of attack but then run all the way back to their cruisers.

It's a psychological thing I believe, I'm not sure what the standard practice is nationwide for cops when they are suddenly engaged at a traffic stop, but running all the way back to your cruiser takes too much time.

I have assessed scenarios like these again and again.
"yeah but but who are you?"
Someone with a functional brain who can look at events that repeatedly happen, detect patterns, detect variables, and make an assessment as to what is going on, and what maybe should change so a different outcome is found.
 
I feel the best course of action is immediate break from the action (GET OF THE X!) immediately return fire and circle around the back end of the vehicle.  DO NOT STOP MOVING.

"but but what if the bad guy puts it in reverse?"

By the time he decides to run you over instead of shooting at you, you should have already cleared the rear end of vehicle and be on it's west side.

The reason I advocate moving around the vehicle is because you can pivot your firearm on a single area, your attacker cannot.  He has to turn to his body left to a degree, and right in order to continuously engage you.  Also if there are other people in the car he has to shoot around them, SO DO YOU, but it buys you time and it makes you harder to kill.

Officer is shot at while pulling over suspects


"but but what if all of em are tryin' to kill you, or only the passenger is or"

What if's are good games to play, but the fundamental idea is what should be applied and always considered.  Get off the X and immediately return fire.  

Equipment List

Here I provide a list of almost all the gear that was required of me, and other gear that I purchased because I felt it may become useful.

Disclaimer:  Note that not every academy requires the same items.  Not all the items listed are required by my academy either.  Some were just purchased as a means to increase knowledge, functionality, etc.

Equipment obtained:

Safariland 77 Double Mag Carrier Basketweave

Safariland 6285 1.5 inch drop level II Retention SLS Holster STX Basketweave

Aker 582 3X5 Basketweave Fieldnote book (Does not always come with the pictured inner notebooks)

Hatch Specialist Neoprene Glove

OLIGHT M20S Warrior Special Operations  flashlight

Shooter's Ridge Compact Field and Range Bag

Uncle Mike's Tactical Equipment Bag

Community Spanish for LEO's (not required by my Academy, I just felt it would be useful for future ref.

Hoppe's Boresnake (Viper edition)

Uni-Ball Jetstream Sport Bold Retractable Roller ball Pens (My favorite pens all throughout college and now)

3 inch binder

Otis Professional Cleaning System

Charles Leonard Clipboard - Masonite - 2 sided - 9" X 12.5"

Merriam Webster's Pocket Dictionary

Harbinger Durafoam Exercise Mat

A Police Officers Guide and Handbook to Tactical Casualty Care (under fire): First aid and self first aid for law enforcement By Rafael Navarro

Otis Variety Pack Receiver Brushes (Nylon, Blue Nylon, Bronze) 

5.11 Taclite 2 Gloves 

Bianchi Accumold 7965 Ergotek Padded Basketweave Sam Browne Belt 

Safariland 65 Belt Keeper Basketweave 

Safariland 90 Handcuff Case STX Basketweave 

5.11 1.5" Basketweave Leather Garrison Belt 

Kiwi Parade Shoe Polish - Gloss 

5.11 TDU 65.35 Poly Cotton Twill Pants - Dark Navy 

Glock 17 Gen 3 (9MM fullsize)

Trijicon HD night sights Front Orange 

Brooks Beast Running Shoe 

Rocky Tactical TMC Postal Approved Duty Boot 

Equipment Pt I

I put my Sammy Browne together a few weeks ago, and finally got my Glock 17 today.

Any who, I put the Sammy Browne together, and have been breaking in my Safariland 6285 SLS holster with my Glock 23 for awhile.  The holster works fantastically well if your gun is stock.  I tend to tweak with my firearms; nothing major though as I have very little courage for permanently altering something that cost me hundreds of dollars.  

I have my firearms set up for battle.  I have combat sights on my pistols and grip tape on key points.  The grip tape towards the muzzle end of the frame makes the gun stick funny to the holster and screws up the draw.  It did this with the G17 as well when I added the tape.  IT DOES NOT DO THIS WHEN YOU LEAVE THE GUN ALONE, SO IF YOU WANT AN EVEN MORE SIMPLE SOLUTION THAN WHAT I AM OFFERING TO YOU BELOW THAN JUST LEAVE THE GUN ALONE.

  

I fixed this problem by loosening the screws that attach the holster to what I believe is the UBL.  Then I ran a piece of nylon through.  I then attached the buckles at both ends, connected them, removed the excess material.

My father offered up the idea of cutting a generous amount of the excess nylon off but then leave around 4 inches to paste a piece of velcro down to both pieces so the loose end could be placed flush against itself.

This simple addition completely erradicates the problem, but I do not believe that the RTOs, or Coordinator, or Director will be OK with any addition to their criterion for our uniforms.  Despite the fact it provides an enormous amount of functionality for the cadet. 

I feel that would be like telling a DMR no you can't wear a sling with your rifle, because it doesn't match your uniform.  It's more bureaucratic stupidity, but you know what, "it's their rodeo, and I'm just one cowboy trying to get a good time."  - ME, yes I'm clever enough to come up with something simple and elegant.     

I think I'll put a full list of every item I purchased for the academy.  

And where I got it from.  I might include it in a link here or in another post so keep your eyes in the upright position.  

by the way, 4 x 6 leather field notebooks are huge and are for cucumber fingers, get the 3x5s from aker they are more than adequate.