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
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.
Are You a Tactical Minimalist?
The longer you’re in this community, the more you realize that there’s almost an overwhelming number of skills to learn. One of the biggest traps people fall into is trying to become a master of everything. Often that looks like learning infinite variations of each skill. I think this ultimately becomes a distraction, and prevents us from thinking about the bigger picture.
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.
Scenario X: Our Realistic End of the World Situation
I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately about the right mixture of skills, equipment, communications, and other elements of a theoretical emergency situation. With that, it’s time to revisit Scenario-X, our fictional disaster first introduced in the load carriage series. In this post, I want to build out my thoughts a bit more and discuss some of the nuances and reasoning behind it. Why? Well, because it’s going underpin a lot of things coming up soon.
Guns are Fun, and Fun Isn’t a Crime
MLC, a long time reader and supporter, adds his thoughts on the idea of fun being allowed in the shooting sports. We often get too tied up in being too tactical, too serious, or too focused on winning the match. While firearms and competition are certainly serious pursuits, it’s easy to forget that we’re also the ambassadors of shooting for the next generation- and the best way to hook them is making it fun.
Marksman Live! Having “The Talk” About Firearms
In session 005 of Marksman Live, Allison and I go through the mistakes I made in introducing her to shooting, and what lessons we can share with others about doing it better. There’s also the customary Q&A where we go on tangents about poor marketing to women and the zombie apocalypse.
American Martial Arts
In session 003, Allison and I talk about the underlying philosophy of The Everyday Marksman and why I believe in teaching tactical skills for all citizens is an important goal.
Fun is Allowed, So Stop Being so Serious
There’s been an idea rolling around in my head for a long time: fun is allowed. You see, in today’s short episode, I’m discussing what I hope becomes a recurring theme on the site for a while. Have you ever gotten the sense that we, the people of the gun, take things just a little too seriously?
The Enemy Gets a Vote: Fighting Rifles in the Real World
In this episode I’m talking to Jeff Gurwitch again. He recently put up a video on his YouTube channel that caught my attention. Why? Well, because on the surface it contradicts my own advice of, “Let the mission dictate the configuration.”
You Weren’t Built for Safety
This is a short Mindset (with a bit of musing) of something that crossed my mind. I recently came across a video about our culture’s growing obsession with safety, and it made me think a bit about how humans are simply not built for safety. We’re built for danger, and we are at our best when we act like it.
Getting Life Back and Firing on All Cylinders
I feel like it’s been time for a change up, what about you? We’ve all set goals for ourselves over the last year, some have done well and others haven’t. Maybe, like me, it’s been mixed.
Well, it’s time for a shock to the system and a kick in the pants. This is what I’m doing.
Fireside Chat: Establishing a New Heading
This episode expands on my last post about the future of The Everyday Marksman. I’m ready to talk a bit more about where we’ve been, where we’re going, and the role you can play in it.