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Scenario Training Ideas from “The Upside of Irrationality”

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Dan Ariely’s book The Upside of Irrationality is a book about making rational and irrational decisions.  Books like these are a goldmine of information for firearms and combatives trainers.  We regularly see people making irrational decisions in the context of self defense.  It’s nice to figure out why they are doing […]

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles, Book Reviews, Teaching Tips
force-on-force, scenario training, Teaching Tips View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 7, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   What’s the Best 38 Special Ammo for Self-Defense? Although I wouldn’t put the Lehigh Defense cartridge into my list of the “top loads,” the author’s ballistic testing results provide very useful information for any […]

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
37mm, active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, American Handgunner, Ammoman School of Guns, ammunition, Animal Attacks, AR Build Junkie, AR-15, Caleb Giddings, Claude Werner, gelatin tests, Integrated Skills Group, John Mosby, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Michael Bane, Pew Pew Tactical, pocket carry, pocket pistols, police, psychology, Recoil Offgrid, riots, Sam Harris, shooting drills, shotguns, Steve Moses, Steve Tarani, terrorism, The Suited Shootist, Tiger McKee View Post

AR-15 Rifle Maintenance

  Written by Greg Ellifritz     Jeff Chudwin is a firearms instructor and retired police chief from whom I’ve taken a couple training classes.  He is amazingly knowledgeable and readily shares the wealth of information he possess.   Jeff compiled a list of maintenance checklists for AR-15 style rifles and sent them out to […]

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
AR-15, firearm maintenance, Jeff Chudwin View Post

Riot Survival Compendium

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   With almost two months of non-stop rioting in Portland and lots of other big demonstrations in other parts of the nation,  lots of folks have contacted me about re-posting some of my riot survival articles.   Here is my best advice…   Stay away from any scheduled protests, riots, uprisings, […]

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Andrew Branca, Ballistic Radio, Gabe Suarez, Jeff Gonzales, Legal, Michael Bane, riots, Survival Podcast View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- July 31, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Short Barreled Rifles vs Pistol Braces A high quality analysis of the issues involved with having a short barreled “pistol” with a stabilizing brace.  I think these are exceptionally handy.  When I’m driving out […]

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, American Partisan, Ballistic Radio, Breach Bang Clear, ccw, Claude Werner, firearms training, Forward Observer, history, holsters, less lethal, Lucky Gunner, Melody Lauer, Mike Seeklander, Organic Prepper, Paul Martin, Rangemaster, riots, robbery, Selco, Seth Godin, shooting drills, Spotter Up, survival, survivalblog, Swift Silent Deadly, The Complete Combatant, Varg Freeborn, warning shots View Post

Ammo Shortage: Is the 10mm a Good Self Defense Round?

Written by Greg Ellifritz     I’ve been getting a few questions from readers about the 10mm auto for self protection.  With the current ammo shortage primarily affecting the common defensive calibers, some readers are seeing 10mm ammo still available online and in gun stores.  Is it worthwhile to own a 10mm defensive handgun in […]

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
10mm, ballistic testing, gelatin tests View Post

Pepper Sprayed for not Wearing a Mask

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   People are losing their shit.  It’s almost like the world has been turned completely upside down in a very short period of time.  In my police job, the calls about erratic behavior, mental illness, and alcohol/drug abuse have increased significantly in the last couple months.  There are a lot of […]

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Legal, Paul Gomez, pepper spray View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- July 24, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Hold Tight To The Past “The upshot of all this? Ain’t much new under the sun. Sometimes we need to get away from being explorers of new shooting worlds and become archaeologists instead, digging […]

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
appendix carry, AR Build Junkie, BCM, ccw, Claude Werner, drugs, family safety, holsters, Integrated Skills Group, Jeff Gonzales, Justified Defensive Concepts, knives, Larry Vickers, Legal, Massad Ayoob, optics, Pew Pew Tactical, police, restraints, revolvers, shooting drills, shotguns, Steve Fisher, The Suited Shootist, Tom Givens, Varg Freeborn, Vortex View Post

Don’t be a CCW Idiot

I’m guessing that most of you who are active in the firearm-related blogosphere have seen this story.  If you haven’t, please check it out:   Gun fell out of man’s sweatpants and discharged, fatally striking woman outside Trend Bar in St. Paul Manslaughter charge for man accused of fatally shooting woman outside St. Paul bar […]

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
accidental discharge, ccw, holsters View Post

“Don’t Run in a Straight Line” and other Bad Advice

Written by Greg Ellifritz   When listening to experts describe how to flee from an attacker who is shooting, the most common statement heard is “Don’t run in a straight line.”  Many people advocate running in a zig-zag pattern or running in a crouched position instead.  A target that is small or that moves randomly […]

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
active shooter, escape, fleeing View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- July 17, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Avoiding The Ambush Excellent counter-ambush advice from Jeff Chudwin.     Three Videos Of Robberies Teach Us Different Lessons “No one is coming to save you.”   Smith & Wesson: A History Very interesting […]

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
20 gauge, Active Self Protection, AK-47, ambush, Ammoman School of Guns, Caleb Giddings, Claude Werner, Covid-19, family safety, full automatic fire, G4 Personal Safety, Hock Hochheim, holsters, Jeff Chudwin, Ken Hackathorn, Lucky Gunner, Organic Prepper, police, Precision Rifle Blog, psychology, revolvers, robbery, shooting drills, shotguns, survival, The Revolver Guy View Post

More Info on Weapon-Mounted Lights

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Earlier this week, I wrote an article covering issues involved in the use of weapon mounted lights.  I had a couple readers write me to request some clarification on my position.  Here are two examples of the questions they asked me.   “When I’m searching my house, most often, my […]

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
weapon mounted lights View Post

Issues with Weapon Mounted Lights

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   I spent all of last week attending Massad Ayoob and Marty Hayes’ Deadly Force Instructor class as a student.  We spent some time discussing the use of weapon mounted lights and the safety concerns associated with them.   It caused me to realize that I haven’t written about this topic […]

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
Fenix, flashlight tactics, Marty Hayes, Massad Ayoob, police, Surefire, weapon mounted lights View Post

How to Help a Cop During a Life-Threatening Struggle

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   As we see more officers attacked by rioters and more police stations under siege, I’m getting this question more often.  If you want to help a cop under attack, this is how to do it.  And be sure to read PART TWO, how you can help a cop even if […]

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Reader Questions
ccw, police View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- July 10, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Is Hollowpoint the Best Defensive Ammo for Concealed Carry? In most calibers, you should be carrying hollowpoint bullets for defensive purposes.  One can argue that solid bullets have advantages in .22, .25, .32, .38, […]

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, AR-15, Caleb Giddings, church shootings, forgotten weapons, GAT Daily, gunsmithing, Havok Journal, Integrated Skills Group, John Murphy, Karl Rehn, Mark Manson, Massad Ayoob, Paul Howe, plant medicine, police, psychology, PTSD, Recoil Magazine, red dot sights, revolvers, Rob Pincus, shooting drills, Swift Silent Deadly, The Discerning Shootist, The Revolver Guy, vehicle tactics, women View Post

Lessons Learned from a Home Invasion Attempt

 Written by: Greg Ellifritz I was working day shift police patrol when a call went out at about 9:00 a.m.  I was dispatched to a very large house in a nice neighborhood. The dispatcher said that the resident had called to report suspicious activity.  The resident said that she had heard someone banging on her […]

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
crime prevention, home invasion, home security View Post

Your Tactical Training Scenario…Injured Hands

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Take a quick look at this news article…. Phoenix police make arrest in priest murder A man broke into a church rectory and attacked the two priests who lived there with a tire iron.  The first priest ran to his bedroom and grabbed his revolver.  He tried to shoot the […]

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Tactical Training Scenarios
gun disarms, impact weapon View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- July 3, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   PCC Showdown: H&K SP5 vs Kalashnikov USA KP9 vs CMMG Banshee I get a lot of questions about pistol caliber carbines.  I’m really not the right one to ask, as I don’t own any […]

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
.32, abduction, Active Self Protection, appendix carry, Breach Bang Clear, Cecil Burch, chokes, civilian gunfighter, Close quarter shooting, Dave Spaulding, Doom and Bloom, forgotten weapons, gelatin tests, Hock Hochheim, hostage survival, John Lott, Ken Hackathorn, Lucky Gunner, medical skills, Organic Prepper, Pew Pew Tactical, police, Rangemaster, restraints, shooting drills, shotguns, Smith and Wesson, Steve Moses, Tinker Talks Guns, travel View Post

Surviving the Mob

  Violent protests, mob action, and rioting scenarios fill up your news feed.  Lots of folks are contacting me about mob violence issues.  Let’s look at some of the issues involved…   To date, the majority of mob violence events have occurred in very large public gatherings and at the sites of large political protests. […]

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
awareness, crowd, escape, flash mobs, less lethal, retention shooting, self defense View Post

Some Commentary on Last Weekend’s Snubnose Revolver Class

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   On Saturday,  I taught my first open-enrollment class since February. That might have been the longest break I’ve had from teaching in more than a decade. My teaching skills are rusty. My voice is fried.   But the class went well. It was a snubnose revolver class that was full […]

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
ccw, firearms training, revolvers, snubnose View Post
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