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
The Power of Cumulative Effects on Success and Failure
Too many people are looking for the easy out, as if finding the one perfect piece of gear, or just the right training technique, will take them to the next level of capability. But that’s not true. Success and failure are lagging indicators of our choice to make deposits or take withdrawals from our internal investment account.
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.
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.
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!
Are Prism Scopes Due for a Big Comeback?
I’m making a casual bet that the market for compact prism optics is going to heat up soon. Low power variable optics (LPVO) have been king for the last several years, of course, but I’m noticing some trends and techniques that I think will lead us in a different direction.
Do You Need an All-in-One Fighting Kit?
I ventured off into a thought experiment that ended up becoming something…more. I’ve long suggested that the average prepared citizen should consider a battle belt and chest rig (or plate carrier) combo as their go-to fighting gear. There’s a lot of advantages there. On the other side, though, I’ve been thinking a lot about a single “grab and go” fighting kit all contained in a single piece of equipment.
Here’s where I’m at with the idea.
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.
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.
Strength and Honor: Accountability Challenge
The theme for May is Strength and Honor, so I’d like to spend a little time talking about what I’m doing this month in support of it. It’s going to be a doozy, and I’m telling everyone so you can hold me accountable for doing it.
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.
Attacking Blind Spots: Let’s Talk About The Future
The theme of the month for members of our little tribe is “Back to Basics.” I know that means different things to different people, so allow me to give a quick take. The previous month was about red teaming and identifying where you have blindspots. This month is about adopting a beginner mindset and starting to solve for those weaknesses.
I have many weaknesses and blindspots, too many to tackle in a single month or year. So let’s talk about one of those and what I’m doing about it- because this affects you.
Introduction to the Francs Tireurs, the Little-Known Irregular French Sniper
This is a short post today, as it’s more of a musing than anything. I wanted to touch upon something that I recently came across while reading John West’s Fry the Brain. This is a history about a group of French citizens who ground an enemy’s army to a halt with their marksmanship prowess.