Thank you for coming by The Everyday Marksman. This site and its community are a labor of love. I hope you stick around for a while, and maybe even join us.
-Matt
Ready Up! Complete Guide on How to Set Up Your Battle Belt
The battle belt is a sort of modern iteration of the classic ALICE gear that served the US military from the 70s through late 90s. But there are some significant differences, particularly in the type and amount of load that the belt handles. In this post, we’re going through some basic guidelines and a suggested layout for developing your own minimalist fighting kit.
The Beginner’s Guide to Ammunition Management
A while back, I did a primer on magazine pouches, and one of the topics I mentioned was managing your ammunition supply. This is the follow-up where I get into some specific advice for beginners about working through your equipment and positioning your magazines.
What Bench Are You Sitting On?
While reading through some of Coach Dan John’s work, I came across a philosophy for breaking your annual training cycles. It’s impossible to do everything well all of the time- something must give. Instead, we should think of our training, all of our training, from two perspectives: the bus bench, and the park bench.
The Devil’s Mile Sandbag Challenge
This marksman challenge is about grit. It’s about pushing through pain, discomfort, and exhaustion to reach a goal. Our tool of choice? The humble sandbag and a pair of shoes.
Just Say No to Flex Culture
Like many enthusiast topics, we’ve got a problem with flex culture. What is that? Today we’re talking about it, how it manifests, why its a problem, and what you can do to combat it.
Resource Review: The Guerilla’s Guide to the Baofeng Radio
My friend NC Scout of Brushbeater recently put out a book about using the Baofeng radio as the base of a whole communications plan. The interesting thing about the book is that the Baofeng is only a small part of what he’s actually talking about, while the rest is incredibly useful for just about anyone looking to use radio equipment in challenged situations. Let’s dig in.
Chasing Optimum and Other Marketing Failures
Everyone loves talking about optimization. Entire industries spend huge amounts of money convincing you that their new whiz bang gadget or service will take you to the next level with no additional skill required. Today I’m putting a stake in the ground to tell you that optimum is a myth, and our constant pursuit of it only detracts us from focusing on what’s actually important for our success.
Canik Rival Review: Bullet Points
The Rival is Canik’s first competition-focused gun and is supposed to be ready to compete in USPSA, IPSC and IDPA out of the box. This is close to true, as that box is loaded with accessories.
State of the Everyday Marksman, 2023
To start of 2023, I wanted to take a moment to look over where we’ve been over the last eight years, some of the impactful decisions I’ve made along the way, and how that’s affecting where were going next in 2023 and beyond. Thanks for being a part of it!
CoolFire Trainer: The Raw Truth Long(ish) Term Review
There was a time where ammo was cheap, but those days are gone. The CoolFire Trainer allows you to train with your carry gun for the price of cheap .22lr in the comfort of your own home and on your own schedule. But after nearly 18 months of ownership, do I think it’s worth it? Let’s discuss.
VO2 Max, Aerobic Energy, and Why it Matters to You
You might not have noticed, but I recently updated the Level 1 fitness standards to include a 1.5 mile run instead of the 1 mile that I originally used. I did this based on a lot of learning I’ve done over 2022 concerning conditioning, metabolism, and how your body recovers from stress. In this post, I want to touch on the key measurement used for aerobic conditioning, how I’m using it for the fitness test, and some tips on how you can improve it for yourself.
Otto Noizebarrier Range SA: Raw Truth Review
When you talk about electronic hearing protection, most people either think “cheaper” like the ubiquitous Howard Leights or “Super Expensive” like Peltor Comtacs and Ops-Core AMPs. Today I’m looking at another American-made option you might not know about, the Otto Noizebarrier Range SA.