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The Best of What I Read- 2019

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Compared to the average American, I read a massive number of books.  I try to read between around 10-15 books a month.  I accomplish this because I don’t have TV in my house and I carry a book wherever I go.  Whenever I have a few spare moments, I spend […]

Posted on December 30, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Book Reviews
Daniel Suarez, Malcolm Gladwell, Robert Greene, Ryan Holiday, Tom Givens, Varg Freeborn View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 27, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   What To Do if Someone Is Following You Quality tips and reference videos here.     The Spyderco Sharpmaker The Spyderco Sharpmaker is my favorite knife sharpener as well.     The Best Revolvers […]

Posted on December 27, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, AK-47, Alexis Artwohl, ambush, crime statistics, firearms training, Integrated Skills Group, knives, Mark Manson, medical skills, police, police training, Recoil Magazine, revolvers, shooting drills, The Revolver Guy, women's self defense View Post

Shooting Drill- Dot Assessment Madness

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   I got this drill from Ballistic Radio’s Facebook page.   Dot Assessment Madness AKA D.A.M. Is a 55-round assessment fired on the excellent Langdon Tactical, Inc. target.   John Johnston describes the drill as follows:   “At 3 yards Start with no more than 15 rounds in the gun or […]

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Shooting Drills
Ballistic Radio, shooting drills View Post

The Springfield XD- A Polemic

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   A recent discussion on my Facebook page prompted me to write an article to explain why I really don’t care for the Springfield XD pistol.  I’ve seen hundreds of the guns go through my classes in the last decade.  I remain unimpressed.   The gun’s main selling point seems to […]

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Firearm Reviews
ccw, guest author, John Motil, Springfield Armory, Tactical Defense Institute, TDI View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 20, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   4 Qualities Your Concealed Carry Gun Must Have “Reliability is the single most important element in the selection of a personal defense weapon. The only justification for firing a weapon at a human being […]

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, art of manliness, Breach Bang Clear, ccw, Daniel Shaw, diet, health, Jack Donovan, Jerking the Trigger, knives, Legal, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Nick Hughes, open carry, police training, Recoil Offgrid, shooting drills, Spotter Up, Survival Sullivan, The Suited Shootist, weapon retention View Post

Training vs. Experience

Written by: Greg Ellifritz Many of my students are serious practitioners of the art of self-protection.  They’ve graduated from numerous shooting schools and hold black belts in various martial arts systems.  Although they generally enjoy the training process in general, their ultimate goal is to become better fighters.  They are hoping that the skills they […]

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
ccw, experience, FBI, force-on-force, police, TDI, training View Post

Timing…a Missing Component in Training

Written by Greg Ellifritz   One of the hardest things I do as a firearms and self defense trainer is convincing people that their lives are worth defending.  Many students come to my classes with an attitude that displays an extreme lack of self worth.  It’s hard for me to comprehend, but many people do […]

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice, Tactical Training Scenarios
ccw, resistance strategies, robbery, TDI, training View Post

Lessons Learned from a Successful Use of Pepper Spray

  Watch the excellent surveillance video of a store owner and his wife fighting two robbers armed with knives. The store owner is able to access a large can of pepper spray and blast his attackers. He then holds one attacker down on his counter while his wife kicks the dude in the face. Nicely […]

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice, Tactical Training Scenarios
pepper spray, resistance, robbery View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 13, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Getting Friends and Family (Slightly) More Prepared How to gently steer reluctant friends and family members in the direction of being better prepared for emergencies.     Factory 6.5 Creedmoor Ammunition Accuracy Velocity and […]

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, ccw, children, Claude Werner, Dave Spaulding, David Yamane, Deadly, firearms training, holsters, Karl Rehn, knife training, medical skills, Melody Lauer, Michael Janich, modern service weapons, police, revolvers, Rifle Shooter, Silent, survival blog, Swift, terrorism, The Revolver Guy View Post

Shooting Drill- The Humbler

Written by Greg Ellifritz   This shooting drill is one of the hardest I’ve ever attempted.   I got it from Kyle Defoor’s page.  It is a 70 shot drill with 700 possible aggregate points.  Allegedly, no one has ever shot a perfect score.  I certainly haven’t ever even come close.  I’m happy if I […]

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Shooting Drills
Kyle Defoor, shooting drills View Post

Choosing a Gun for the Woman in your Life

  Written by: Greg Ellifritz     Reading the article The Right Gun for a Woman, According to Women  got me a little fired up.  Go check it out before you continue here. Female Shooters On: Semi-Autos vs. Revolvers       As most of you know, I’m not a woman.  I don’t purport to […]

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Firearm Reviews
firearm reviews, women's carry View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 6, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   When You Can’t Pull the Trigger I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard ignorant gun owners make the statement “I’ll just shoot him if he grabs my gun.”  It isn’t quite that […]

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, Alain Burrese, Andrew Bawidamann, carjacking, ccw, Claude Werner, David Yamane, Ed Head, firearms training, Hock Hochheim, home defense, Integrated Skills Group, Jeff Gonzales, Marcus Wynne, Mark Manson, Massad Ayoob, Organic Prepper, Pat McNamara, psychology, Richard Nance, school safety, school violence, shooting drills, Steve Moses, terrorism, Tier Three Tactical, Tom Givens View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 29, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Shooting from Retention A discussion about in-fight weapons access, timing errors, dominant positioning, shooting from the “two,” and the dangers of floating the gun.  These are the factors that are commonly misunderstood by well-meaning […]

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, AR-15, ccw, Clint Smith, Close quarter shooting, Concealed Nation, crime statistics, extreme close range, Integrated Skills Group, Karl Rehn, Kelly McCann, Legal, Massad Ayoob, police, Rangemaster, revolvers, school violence, shooting drills, situational awareness, snubnose, The Suited Shootist, Tiger McKee, Tom Givens View Post

Timing School Shootings for Higher Body Counts

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Early in 2017, I published an article titled “When Do School Shootings Occur.”  I studied every American active killer school shooting over a three year time period from 2013 until the end of 2016.  Interestingly enough, I determined that 43% of the school shootings I studied occurred outside of official […]

Posted on November 25, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
active killer, active shooter, school shootings, school violence View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 22, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   What is The Best Revolver Speedloader? Justin did a massive amount of work and shot a whole bunch of rounds to provide you with this useful data.  Throw a buck in his Patreon account […]

Posted on November 22, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, AK-47, Caleb Causey, Cecil Burch, Claude Werner, Integrated Skills Group, ITS Tactical, Jack Donovan, Lone Star Medics, Mark Rippetoe, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, open carry, Organic Prepper, Paul Gomez, Recoil Offgrid, restraints, revolvers, situational awareness, speedloaders, The Revolver Guy View Post

The Saugus High School Shooting

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Details are starting to come out about last Friday’s shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California.  If you haven’t seen any of the details, you can read a brief summary here.   This was a school shooting that would be categorized as pretty “typical.”  There was nothing exceptional […]

Posted on November 19, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
active killer, school shootings, school violence View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 15, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   3 Techniques Predators Use to Hunt Women “Having studied this platform of evidence-based “real world” violence, particularly where the victim has been a female, I have identified three techniques that criminals consistently use to […]

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
ACLDN, Active Self Protection, Bombs, Claude Werner, diet, Ed's Manifesto, gelatin tests, health, Hock Hochheim, impact weapons, Karl Rehn, Larry Vickers, Legal, Lucky Gunner, Massad Ayoob, pet first aid, pets, Recoil Offgrid, revolvers, school shootings, school violence, shooting drills, The Revolver Guy, Tom Givens, travel View Post

Kung-Fu for the Concealed Carrier

This is a guest post from my friend Steve Moses, owner of Palisade Training Group.   He was the guest author of  a very well-received article on shotguns for home defense I posted last week.  Since you all liked Steve’s contribution, I’m going to publish this one as well. It covers a topic that many CCW […]

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
Cecil Burch, Chris Fry, Close quarter shooting, Craig Douglas, Dave Spaulding, Fletch Fuller, guest author, Jerry Wetzel, Larry Lindenman, Paul Sharp, Shivworks, Steve Moses View Post

5 Tips for Making Online Sales Transactions Safer

Written by Greg Ellifritz   A friend sent me the following question last week:   “Greg, I have been shopping on eBay and Craigslist lately and it brought some concerns to mind.  I was wondering if you have any safety advice regarding buying items on eBay/Craigslist.  My two main issues are: 1)      Personal safety when […]

Posted on November 11, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Reader Questions
scams View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 8, 2019

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   FSI Investigates Unintentional Discharges: When Are You At Greatest Risk? Force Science takes a look at where police unintentional discharges take place and what we can do to prevent them.     Federal Syntech […]

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, Claude Werner, Daniel Coyle, drugs, Force Science Institute, Gabe Suarez, Justin Carroll, Lucky Gunner, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Organic Prepper, Pat McNamara, pepper spray, police, police shootings, psychology, Recoil Magazine, Recoil Offgrid, revolvers, robbery, scams, shooting drills, survival, travel View Post
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Recent Posts

  • Weekend Knowledge Dump- January 9, 2026
  • The Best of What I Read-2025
  • Weekend Knowledge Dump- January 2, 2026
  • My Best Writing- 2025
  • Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 26, 2025

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