A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition
In this section, you’re looking at all of the book reviews and links to sources of information I use in my articles and podcasts. The simple truth is that there are relatively few new ideas out there, so it comes down to how we interpret the information before us.
John Simpson, way back in Episode 2 of the podcast, once told me that too many people are in a rush to put their own twist on things before they master the basics. My goal in sharing these resources with you is that you take the time to master the fundamentals and start forming your own ideas.
/// Resources Archive
How to Use the Martial Marksman Physical Calculator
I'm a nerd at heart, especially a data nerd. Over the course of a year, I built calculator out of a spreadsheet. This calculator encompasses all of my physical fitness goals from strength levels to body composition, cardio conditioning, and science-driven aesthetic targets. It also provides goal body mass targets, cardio zone targets, and ideal rates of fat loss or mass gain for cutting and bulking throughout the year. I've been testing it with others for a while on a small scale, and now I'm ready to release it to you. And it's free. I don't even need your email.
Foundations of Patrol Rifle Marksmanship: Know Your Objective!
A while back, while talking about the latest revision to his sniper marksmanship book, John Simpson let me know that he had another book on the way- this one focused on patrol rifle marksmanship. Well it recently hit the shelves and we got together again to talk more about rifle marksmanship, training philosophies, and competition. Let's dig in.
Radically Simple Strength Development: Consistency, Not Variety
This is both my review of a new book on strength training as well as an interview with the author. Over the last year, I've built up a library of strength and conditioning books, and I think I've settled on the one to suggest to just about everyone who wants to get started. Let's dig in.
The 2023 West Virginia Gun Run: The Retrospective
Months of prep time, new gear configurations, and a lot of articles. I finally ran the West Virginia Gun Run this past Saturday. Here's some notes on how it went and what I'd do differently in the future.
Resource Review: TargetBarn Stage Builder
This is just a quick post to introduce you to something I recently came across that I haven't seen anyone else doing. If you've ever had to plan a USPSA or IDPA stage, then you know that it can be a bit of a pain in the backside to create because of all the unique items and props that show up. Well, someone decided to do something about it.
The Road to Victory: My Tactical Biathlon Training Blueprint
So I did it, I got my ticket for the April 2023 West Virginia Gun Run. On the request of a community member, I want to tell you a bit about how I'm structuring my training for it, and how it's going now that I'm about half way through it. If you're interested, you can also join up to use my full program for yourself.
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.
Starting Your Tactical Library
Books are timeless, in depth, explainers of who, what, where, when, and why. They teach us skills, educate us, and serve as valuable references. Unlike other resources in common use, books work with or without electricity. We pulled together this article because of a perceived gap in the broader preparedness sphere.
Marksman Live: How to Build Your Team
In this session of Marksman Live, I talked to Brent0331, Doc Larsen, and Les from Pegasus Tests about the structure and capability of your survival team in Scenario-X. We dug into posture, weapon selection, mindset, and more.
Make Ready! Defensive Conditions and Posture During Emergencies
When we start talking about bad situations and what we think we're going to do, most people in the shooting world immediately think of firefights and raids. But that's not reality. There are far more mundane concerns that we're going to spend our time worrying about. Int his post, I'm proposing a system for quickly communicating defensive posture to yourself and the world.
Resource Review: Long Range Shooting Handbook
This is my review of Ryan Cleckner's Long Range Shooting Handbook. It's a beginner's guide to precision rifle shooting, and it's been in my reading queue for nearly a year. In all, I think the book is a worthy read for anyone interested in precision rifles, but it definitely focuses on beginners and might be too basic for some people.
Lessons Learned From My First PRS Rimfire Match
I recently competed in my first PRS Rimfire match, and it was a great time. I also came away with several observations and lessons learned. Let's dig into what I would do different for next time and what you might consider for your first match.
Do You Know Your DOPE? Here’s a Custom Card
With my upcoming PRS Rimfire match, I set out to create my own custom DOPE cards. Whether I need them or not remains to be seen, but I figured you might be interested in downloading the template for yourself.
Live Streaming with The Dark Lord of Optics
I recently appeared with Ilya on his live stream over at the Dark Lord of Optics. It started with a question about recent and future developments in the optics trade, but being a long stream with lots of Q&A, we covered quite a bit of ground in other places, too.
Preparedness Skillset: The Area Study
I've been thinking a lot about the idea of "red teaming." If you aren't familiar, this is where you think deeply about how you would plan to defeat yourself if you were the bad guy. While thinking about my own gaps, I realized one of the biggest was a lack of information about my surrounding area. I mean, I know a lot about where I live, but I'd never approached it like a military intelligence analyst. What does that look like?
Keep Your Gear Dry: Waterproofing Your Pack
I'd like to throw a shout out to a fellow blogger, and community member, who did a great writeup on waterproofing a pack. I've got a bit of experience here, but given his background I think it's best to just hear it from his mouth.
