the things worth believing in

Cover of The Book of Eli

A good post recently went up over at Straight Forward in a Crooked World. Matthew talks about the differences between a “go bag” and a “bug out bag”. He says this about the notion of “bugging out”.

Despite all of its darkly romantic notions bugging out presents far larger issues than staying put. I have tools, vehicles, defensible structure, multiple firearms, ammunition, reloading capabilities, food, clothing…..resources.I’d much rather stay, live uncomfortable for a time, fight when and if I have to than run-fight-survive.

I agree 100%. While the macho image of the Hero wandering the Post-Apocalyptic landscape, living off of the land and surviving at all odds has kept a lot of gear manufacturers in business, the reality of survival is quite different.

Take a read.

Image via Wikipedia

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the Wounded Warrior Project.

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) began when several veterans and friends, moved by stories of the first wounded service members returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq, took action to help others in need. What started as a program to provide comfort items to wounded service members has grown into a complete rehabilitative effort to assist warriors as they recover and transition back to back to civilian life.

Read more: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/content/view/415/876/#ixzz1MkkHALbG

Repost of a 2009 piece.

An interesting tradition peculiar to the Samurai of fuedal Japan was the practice of the “Warrior Pilgrimage”. Wikipedia defines this pilgrimage as the:

Musha shugyō (武者修行, Musha shugyō^?) is a samurai warrior’s quest or pilgrimage. The concept is similar to Knight Errantry in feudal Europe. A warrior, called a shugyōsha, would wander the land practicing and honing his skills without the protection of his family or school. Possible activities include training with other schools, dueling, performing bodyguard or mercenary work, and searching for a daimyo to serve.

Knight Errantry was more a literary device found in medieval romance literature than it was historic fact. The knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove himself as a knight. It is unclear if such quests were actually undertaken by the historic Knight. The Samurai however were documented to have gone off on such wanderings in search for knowledge, enlightenment, adventure, employment or in many cases just plain money.

There were different types of musha shugyo. In many cases a masterless Samurai would go on a musha shugyo to find a lord to serve. He would attempt to gain an audience with various daimyo or dojos with the intention of impressing the people there in order to get hired on as one of their retainers. Some Shugyosha went on musha shugyo under the auspices of their lord and carried with them a letter which granted access to various clan estates and dojos. This eased the hardships on the warrior considerably.

One of the most commonly known musha shugyo was that of the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. While its not known if Musashi’s musha shugyo was undertaken with the intention of improving his skills or simply finding employment; its commonly believed that Musashi wanted to remain independent and his main goal was the search for enlightenment. However, seeing that Musashi was welcomed as a “guest” by various daimyo who (for various reasons), were reluctant to offer him a position as a clan retainer; its also fairly obvious that Musashi was also on a mission to find employment.

Another facet of the musha shugyo was “dojo storming”. In what amounted to extortion, wandering Samurai would go to a martial arts school and challenge the instructor or the students. If the Shugyosha proved to be the stronger, the instructor would offer him money to go away in order to save his reputation and his livelihood.

A modern version of the musha shugyo can be seen in people who, after achieving a working grasp of a martial art, go out and learn from other instructors. Some students travel to the arts “homeland” to train. Some people in the firearms arts go out to various schools like Gunsite, Blackwater and Valhalla. Some take up temporary employment with military contractors. The danger here is in mistaking “the path” for “the way”. A person can become so focused on the training and the schooling that they forget what it all is for. This is where the confusion between training in “Warriorship” and “being a Warrior” starts in my opinion. Paying to send yourself to the Police Academy or to a Navy SEAL boot camp program wont make you a Cop or a SEAL anymore than actors who go through such training for a movie role. That is not to say that all people who do these things participate in “Live Action Role Play” (or LARPING as its otherwise called). Many are just citizens who enjoy the training or desire to be as skilled as possible. Some are professionals looking to sharpen their skills. Another thing to beware is what I call “The Jack of all trades” syndrome. The warrior on musha shugyo was already accomplished in his art, he was out looking to hone his skills. I think that some martial arts students of our times believe they are on a musha shugyo, when in fact they are just lacking in dedication.

On the flip side, many instructors prevent the full development of their students by discouraging them from looking at other arts and instructors. When you are depending on student money for income that is perhaps understandable, however I also think there is a quantity of ego involved in the process as well.

I personally see a “modern musha shugyo” as going out and finding training and experience in various arts, skills and trades and incorporating them into ones “martial toolbox”. If the person is interested in practicing “warriorship” they will come to realize that martial arts and weapon skills alone are not enough. Skills like driving, electronics, medicine, welding, high angle ropework, skydiving, SCUBA, orienteering, horesback riding, camping skills and countless others all have benefits that can be incorporated into the “warriorship” mindset. The issue becomes one of time, money and realistic expectations of what one can accomplish.

Back in September of 2010 I wrote a post called the zen of reloading. Heres a sample of what I was writing about.

Did that for about 2 hours…

I have been using reloads to do the bulk of my training lately. I have a 1K lot of .223 that I have been shooting and then reloading till the cases wear out. So. In the aftermath of my recent day out shooting, I gathered up what spent brass I could find, took it home and started it through the process.

• Quick clean in a container with water and dish soap to wash off any heavy dirt.
• A couple hours in the vibratory tumbler.

Today I started on the next stage;

• Inspect the cases and toss any that are showing excessive wear.
• Lubricate the cases.
• Run the cases through a LEE decapping/resizing die.
• Trim/Chamfer/Primer pocket clean/Measure (shown in video).
• Retumble brass with some brass cleaning/polishing additive included so that they come out looking like this:

From there I called it a day. So next session I will;

• Reinspect the brass again.
• Prime 50 rounds.
• Charge 50 cases w/Winchester 748.
• Seat 50 bullets (Hornady 55gr FMJBT).
• Crimp 50 case mouths.

I have about 100 cases to reload but I will typically only do 50 at a time so that my attention remains sharp. I have found that when my attention lags things like double charging or forgetting to charge happens. Double charging with W748 isn’t really a problem because it will overflow. Forgetting to charge can be dangerous. Let’s just say that I have a greater appreciation for case crimping.

I am still an amateur reloader and I use a single stage press which means that I have to do many of these steps one “stage” at a time. Any of you experienced reloaders out there with hints, tips or tricks for me feel free to post them in the comments.

Eventually, if I keep doing this long enough I may move up to a “Progressive” reloading press that has a turret set-up which allows priming, charging, seating and crimping to be done in “assembly line fashion”.

Image via Wikipedia

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

Seeing how beautiful the weather was today I decided to take the day “gone shooting”. Other than the day I tested my steel target set-up, I haven’t been out slinging lead since hunting season, so I decided to start out with some “grease the groove” pistol work to knock off the rust. As the season progresses I will work back towards more dynamic movement and engagement sequences:

I don’t know if the swinging of the target in this set-up is a good thing or a bad one from a training standpoint. Something I have to keep working with to figure out.

I then moved onto a rifle/transition drill I put together: 10 round magazine in the AR and do the following; 50 yd silhouette 3 COM/2 Head, 100yd 5 rounds on 7″ dia plate, 7yd: 3 rounds on 7″ dia plate. Wash, rinse, reload and repeat.

Again…I know…no movement, no use of cover etc. This is just a “warm-up” (and I haven’t built my own barricades yet. Another project), with the intent of knocking off a little rust.

This drill got me thinking about the relationship between range necessity, drill realism and how you have to compromise between the two at times. You will probably think “why shoot at the 50 yd target with a target right on top of you at 7 yds??” And you would be correct in asking, but I’m not shooting a high velocity rifle round at a steel plate that close. In “real life” I wouldn’t transition to a pistol to shoot at a person that close either; so for the sake of the drill I had to set-up a mental “scenario” that had initial targets at 50 and 100 yards and the 7 yd target would be a “surprise” bad guy that jumped into view after I ran out of rifle ammo. Try to remain conscious of the discrepancy between “train as you fight” and “train safely”.

PS- After a re-paint the targets look like this. The one on the left has only had .40 S&W from about 7 yards on it, the one on the right mostly .223 rem 55 grn. from 100 yards.

This is a repost from early 2009, I’m hearing these more often lately.

Due to the popularity of “reality television” shows like Cops, Wildest Police Videos, Stories of the Highway Patrol and the rest, many people are being exposed to the “language of the street”.

In this language there are many phrases and customs that the unitiated may have difficulty understanding. Some viewers may become confused by the actions of officers when the person they are dealing with seems to sound perfectly reasonable.

Therefore, as a public service I am providing this easy to understand guide. With it the viewer can have a better understanding of what exactly the police officer and his “customer” are saying to each other. Be reassured that in most cases each party knows exactly what the other is saying:

When he/she says——–He/she really means:

That’s not mine!——-That’s mine.

I don’t have my ID on me.——- Im going to lie about my identity.

I didn’t do anything!——- I did it.

I swear to God!——-I’m about to lie.

That’s not my purse——- I have drugs in my purse.

I don’t know his name/I know him as…——-I’m about to lie about my friends identity because he probably has a warrant.

I swear on my child’s life!——- I’m about to lie.

I’m just driving around——- I just came from a drug house.

I don’t have my drivers license on me——- My drivers license is suspended or revoked. The judge took my license away from me.

 I’m not going to lie to you officer!——-I’m about to lie.

I did what? What did you say?——- Im trying to think up a lie.

These aren’t my pants!——-That’s my dope in the pocket.

“As far as I know” (usually in response to a question about warrants, licenses, presence of illegal items)——- I don’t know if the warrant was issued yet. I can’t remember when the protective order expires.  I’m unsure if the suspension took effect yet.

I swear on my mothers grave!——-I’m about to lie.

I paid for that!——- I stole that.

I just got paid/ I won it at the casino/I just sold my car.——-That’s my drug sales money.

Why are you hasslin’ me?——- Why do I keep getting caught?

This is bullshit!——- I hate getting caught.

You only stopped me because I’m (insert group here)!——-Yes, I rolled through that stop sign in my tinted up hoop-de with the one headlight out, the door lock punched and a cloud of marijuana smoke emitting from the windows.

I’m just driving around——- I just came from the scene of a crime.

I only had 2 or 3 beers——-I’m drunk.

I was driving to the store when my old lady called and said that her friend needed to be picked up from the bar, but first I had to stop for some gas so I was going to the station over there when I saw my buddy…..——-Im a “verbal diarrhea” liar.

There are people killing each other out there and you guys are arresting me?——- I did it.

This car? This car belongs to my friends girl…I don’t know her name——- This car is a “crack rental”.

I think I’m having a heart attack! (while in a cell)——- I want to spend the night in a hospital bed instead of on a concrete slab with a roll of toilet paper for a pillow.

You didn’t read me my rights!——- I’m clueless about criminal procedure and really think that this means my arrest is invalid and you have to let me go.

A little thing like being paralyzed isn’t going to stop a US Marine from doing what he was born to do.