PDN LIVE: Everyday Carry Gear

Welcome to the Every Day Carry, Q&A Personal Defense Network Live February, 2021. We had a great chat earlier if you're a gold level member of Personal Defense Network welcome back. The gold level members and I discussed home defense tactics. And what's great about the gold membership of course is that we assume that you've already seen a lot of the content at Personal Defense Network. You've studied the basics and the fundamentals. So when we do our Q&A in that environment we're talking about more advanced concepts. I'm Rob Pincus and I am the Executive Director of Personal Defense Network. We've been doing this for over 15 years. PDN started in 2005 as a launch of a training DVD series and we produced over 100 DVDs on a variety of topics. So we've had a lot of incredible contributors to the content to the body of work that was in the DVD series. And over a decade ago, we moved into the Personal Defense Network brand with online memberships and streaming information both articles and videos. We started doing these lives a handful of years ago and they've been great. It's a great way to engage with existing members, people who are behind the paywall, so to speak, who've joined PDN and gotten a lot of great value over the years or been customers of the DVD series. And of course, this is open to the public and available for free just like so much information at personaldefensenetwork.com. So we're gonna take questions. I've got some already staged up that we've got through our social media, that have been emailed to us in anticipation of this live event. And we've got the live chat room going as well. I see about 100 people in there almost and a lot of activities. So I'm gonna take a closer look at the chat screen and see exactly what we have for questions and comments there as well. And again, at all levels, every level maybe you don't even know what EDC stands for. It stands for Every Day Carry. And that's been a shorthand phrase that people use for the defensive tools, the gear, the equipment the emergency preparation items that they have with them every day. So you see pocket dumps or you see the tray dumps things like that, a gun, a holster, a knife, a flashlight some cash, maybe some medical gear, things like that. That's what we usually see in people's EDC piles. As I always like to point out for me it's MDC, it's Most Day Carry. There are certainly things that I have with me almost every single day, almost all the time like my medical kit and my phone, things like that that can be used for various different things in an emergency. And then there's things I carry most days like concealed carry firearm, the holster the knife, the flashlight, things like that. Those things are not always as convenient or even available as options. For example, in three hours, I'm getting on a plane. I'm gonna fly back to the Western headquarters in Denver. I'm right now at Personal Defense Network headquarters inside of our brand new studio. This is the first week I've been working here. I'm just outside of Minneapolis. So there are things I can carry when I'm not on a plane things I carry when I am on a plane. And then of course there's things that I have maybe in my carry on bag, things like that. So all of those things are available in this discussion as appropriate topics. EDC, everyday carry. Obviously, there's an asterisk on that for most people, particularly if you travel. You're on an airline, you go international, things like that. So, I'm gonna jump right into it. Let's see what we have here. A good source. This was a pre-question. Keith was in about 32 minutes before we even started this live. And he came in with a question about reliable holsters. Holsters that will accept guns with red dots or lights. The ones that he has found don't allow the gun to sit deep enough, to be secure in the holster. So, holsters are sort of the trickiest part I think of everyday carry or most day carry, for the vast majority of people. It's relatively easy to go find a reliable firearm. It fits your hand, that you can shoot well. One that is the right size or configuration to be carriable in terms of concealment, comfort, things like that. But you've got to have the right holster, for that to work not only safely, but also just in a practical way. You're gonna be wearing this device that might weigh a pound, pound and 1/2, 3/4 of a pound if it's a real small gun, whatever it is, you add bulk with the holster potentially, the holster is what is actually touching you most of the time when you're inside the waistband. If you're outside the waistband, the way the holster contours to your body, the way it attaches to your belt, is gonna affect concealability. It could also affect comfort, if it's pushing the gun back into you. So holsters are tricky. When you start adding accessories to your gun, or if you have a gun that's not a very common one. We recommend you start looking at your nine millimeter guns, your Glock, your Smith and Wesson, your XD series from Springfield armory, SIG P365 or 320, things like that. Like these are the types of guns we generally recommend people start with. There are a lot of holsters available out there. You find the gun that fits your hand, then you find the size you want, that you're gonna be able to carry. And then you find the holster. When you start talking about flashlights, there may be a thousand holster variations for Glock 19 out there, but there might only be 602 that will accept a flashlight attachment. And most of the good ones are not gonna be generic. So, whether you're gonna be using a Streamlight, you're gonna be using an Olight, you're gonna be using some other type kind of light, the light that you're actually gonna use, I think about like the viridian light laser modules, they happen to be the same shape, the latest generations, the ones that I use are the same shape as a TLR-1. So those will overlap. However, some other lights are going be very, very specific. Maybe it's a laser attachment that you're interested in, or a red dot. If you're putting a red dot sight on your pistol, you need to make sure that that is accommodated also by the holster design. So, there really are so many variations out there, that it would be very hard for me to say, oh you want a good source for a holster with a light, boom, go here. Obviously, like I've been a big fan for many, many years. If you've been following Personal Defense Network. I like the crossbreed holsters. The crossbreed hybrid holsters with a leather back and the kydex front. They are a compromise between security and comfort for me. They are the most comfortable holsters, especially in the appendix carry position, where I normally carry. Very, very comfortable for all day long, sitting in a car, sitting in the truck, out on the range, moving around. I lead a very active life. So, while I say you compromise some of the rigidity, of a true full kydex holster in terms of the security, right? You get the comfort of the leather, when you wear those holsters properly, the leather pushes against the gun, pushes it into the front of the kydex, and they're actually very secure. And again, it's concealed. So I'm not worried about somebody coming up and grabbing it. And so any open top holster is gonna be the same, but that then of course makes it trickier, to be able to fit with that compression model of a hybrid holster model with the attachments. So now it becomes even more specific, to which attachments you're gonna be able to work with. So that may or may not find a good solution inside of crossbreed for a gun with a light or laser. Now, as far as the red dot sight, no issue there because the open top holster, there shouldn't be any issue with any of the crossbreed brand holsters for a red dot site. I think of like G-code, Blade-Tech, there are plenty of companies out there that make full kydex holsters. Weber Tactical's one that I've been introduced to recently, and they've got some real innovation around holster that is pretty versatile. So it can be inside the waistband, outside the waistband, still very easy to wear comfortably for long periods of time, especially in the outside of the waistband. Not quite as comfortable as a hybrid design, but again you get more security and more versatility, with the full kydex, that's where you really need to make sure you're checking the right boxes, for the exact light that you have, and making sure that it's gonna accept the red dot site. Which really just means that there's a cut open area, on the top of the gun, if you will on the slide, which will be the front, if you're carrying on the side, or to the weak side of your body, if you're carrying appendix, where it's cut open and will allow that red dot sight to not interfere with the fit of the gun. But it can be tricky. You really need to make sure that you're very, very specific if you're ordering online, exactly what gun you have, because it's not just a Glock obviously it's the Glock 19, or is it the Glock 17? And is it the Glock 17 to the 19 with a streamline? Or is it the 17 or 19 with the viridian? Or is it this, or is it that, or is it the Tor Light Laser module from Steiner? Like there's a whole bunch of different variables there, that you need to make sure you're getting right. Otherwise it's gonna be a mess. And I do not recommend for a whole bunch of reasons, generic holsters for defensive carry. So if you're carrying a gun for defensive purposes, you don't want the size three, that fits most mid-frame modern striker fired guns, with a light attachment. Stay away from that stuff. Go with a specific fit holster. So, maybe not the easiest answer there, Keith, but yeah, do the work, look at hose companies. We're actually gonna be doing a product showcase, on March 11th, which I was gonna tease later anyway, but I'll tell you now. Weber Tactical's actually gonna be one of the holsters that are featured in that product showcase. This is gonna be a live event. I'll talk about it more towards the end of this chat, but on March 11th, we'll be talking about those holsters. So if you haven't found them by March 11th, take a look at what we're gonna be talking about there, and I'm gonna see what else we have. How many magazines or rounds of ammo, do I recommend for carrying along with a firearm? Scott, it's a good question in the sense that, I think a lot of people believe there's a, here's the magic answer. And as you'll find, if you're new to Personal Defense Network, I don't really believe in magic answers. There may be some magic conceptual answers, right? But as far as specifics and details, much like with the holster, there's not gonna be, oh, this is the brand you need if you have a red dot site. When it comes to the number of rounds you're gonna carry, I say that all carry, again revolves around these compromises, right? We're choosing to carry a gun so that we're better prepared to defend ourselves or others, if we need to in the public space. You're going to be better prepared to defend yourself from a wider variety of worst case scenarios, if you have more ammo than if you have less. But at some point that becomes ridiculous, right? So if you carry around 300 rounds every day. 300 rounds in 10 30-round stick mags, well, maybe in a backpack, right? But on your body. And even on a backpack that's gonna get old pretty quick, right? And if you're using the backpack for anything besides your 300 rounds of ammo, well then you run out of space really quick too. So, realistically, there's really we go to a conceptual basis on this. Should you very a spare magazine? Yes, right? So that's an easy yes. So whatever your gun carries, times two, minus one, right? Because if you have one in the chamber, and you've got which if you're carrying a gun in a holster, you should have around in the chamber, you should be carrying a gun in a holster, so if you're carrying a gun, it should be chambered. So if the magazine capacity is 15, and there's one inside the gun, that's 16 rounds. That minus one is because the spare magazine is only gonna have the 15. So you end up with what, 31 rounds? So if you have a 15 round magazine capacity in your carry gun, like the shield arms magazines that I'm carrying for a Glock 48 as my most day carry now, that gives me 16 rounds in the gun, 15 rounds extra. I feel like I'm very well prepared with those 31 rounds. Now 31 rounds doesn't sound like a whole lot, when you think about, one AR mag might hold 30 rounds with one in the chamber. And you know, there you go. You don't even have a spare mag. So, if you were staging a rifle would that be the same answer? Or if you had a backpack with a pistol brace folding pistol brace or an SBR or whatever it is in there, PDW set up with a 30 round magazine plus one. Does that mean you have enough ammo? Again, the idea of enough ammo, is sort of nebulous, right? We don't know that what the event is. So the more ammo, the better just in case. Having the spare magazine not only gives you more ammo, it also lets you address malfunctions that might occur, with that first magazine. So whether that the, it's actually the magazine itself or it's just a miss feed or a double feed, or maybe you're in an extreme close quarters situation and your muzzle or the slide gets blocked during its movement. 'Cause somebody has gotten their hand on the muzzle of your gun, creates a double feed, you block the ejection port, whatever it is, when you go to clear that malfunction, part of an extreme malfunction clearing process is to rip the magazine out and obviously clear that chamber. Well, now you may very well have lost that magazine. So having the spare magazine on your body, lets you get back into the fight. So it's not necessarily about I needed more than 16 rounds to defend myself. It might be that I needed to clear a malfunction. And that's why I generally, again everything's gonna be a compromise. There's no hard you're wrong if you don't. But I think it's a really good idea to have at least one spare magazine. Anything past that is just a bonus, but generally speaking, we want the gun fully loaded magazine, round in the chamber and then a spare magazine. Now, if you are carrying something like a Glock 19, you might have a Glock 17 magazine as your spare magazine. Maybe you're carrying a Glock 26, right? So you have a Glock 26, or maybe you have a Springfield XDS, with a flush seven round magazine. Your spare magazine is a nine rounder, right? Same thing that Glock 26, you've got the 10 round magazine in it. Your spare magazine is a Glock 17 magazine with 17 rounds. So keep that in mind as well. That your second magazine, might not be exactly the same capacity as your magazine in the gun. Right for me, appendix carry. It's very hard for me to carry an extended magazine, under something like this tucked in shirt. You'd definitely see me carrying a gun here. If I was carrying an extended magazine in a Glock 19. But I might be able to get away with a flush magazine, and then my spare magazine over here carried vertically, somewhere on my weak side of my body, is going to be easier to conceal, even though it's a longer magazine. So keep that in mind as well. Good morning, California. What do I think it would be a good red dot optic for a Springfield 40 XD. So Gina what you're gonna wanna do, is get a good red dot optic, and then right under that optic, where you find the Springfield XD 40, you're gonna want to replace that with a Springfield XD nine. Maybe, just keep it in mind. Keep it as an option, right? So 40 caliber, not a big fan of 40 caliber. Springfield XD is great. Red dot optic. If you want to do that, that's fine. But consider switching out to nine. But as long as you've got the 40, let's just talk about the red dot, okay. In general, there are a lot of quality red dot optics out there. Obviously I, if you, again if you follow a Personal Defense Network, you know that my personal, I don't know fanboy ness for the Holosun line has been pretty evident over the last few years. And Holosun has been a sponsor of our tour and a partner here at Personal Defense Network for a number of years. But that only became a thing, because I literally saw them out there for less than $200. Now, we're talking about for ARs. And I thought, let me try it. So less than $200 worth amount, I think I ordered my first one off Amazon. I put it on one of my demo guns carried around on the tour, got a second one halfway through that tour, let students shoot it. I shot it. Beat it up. Left it on all that stuff and was really impressed with them. That's probably I don't know four years ago now. And they became a tour sponsor the next year, because I got along with the company, I really liked what they were doing. There was a lot of good innovation there. And within a year or two they came out with pistol optics as well. So I think the 507 is the standard one. And then the 509 is the enclosed emitter, red dot optic. And they are incredibly affordable. When you look at what's out there on the market. I know them to be durable. I know them to be good options because I've used them. I've watched students use them. I beat them up. Watch students beat them up. A lot of the other instructors that contribute to Personal Defense Network have also become big fans. So that's gonna be my default recommendation is that you look at that from a quality standpoint. Now, obviously if you look at, a company like Trijicon, they've got some great options as well. You're just gonna be paying more. And I don't know that you're getting a better product, honestly. Like, so when you look at apples to apples, price for durability, the Holosun line is a great option. Trijicon, they're sort of the big name, the big player when it comes to the the red dots as well. Aim point. There there's a lot of different directions you can go, when it comes to quality red dots, but part of this is obviously budget, right? That's the compromise as well. So take a look at them as your first option. Red dot versus iron sights for EDC. Red Dot on a pistol becoming more self-defense gun. So John, I'm going to, because this is a live event, and I just make things up as we go, I will tell you that I stood, I don't know maybe like right over there yesterday and recorded a video that will be released at first through Personal Defense Network, through our normal video content production schedule, where I talked about my evolution of opinion, when it comes to red dots on defensive pistols. So I dunno, we've got an hour on this chat here, in about 12, 15 minutes, we're gonna do a little commercial break. I'm not gonna take up that whole time with this story. But I'm gonna go back to the 1990s for a second. I've been looking at red dot sights on pistols for 30 years. All right, when we go back and we look at the first ones that I saw, there were really two versions. There were the attempts at defense appropriate red dots. And then there were just the giant, cantilevered red dots that were part of the competition world. And the competition world ones were great in that environment. They were completely impractical for any kind of defensive carry. I used to shoot in a competition called The Sportsmen's Team Challenge that was sponsored by The National Shooting Sports Foundation or put on by the National Shooting Sports Foundation . All the major companies in the industry participated. They sent teams, they sent prizes, Chevy trucks were spiked. It was a big deal event. And I used to shoot in it. And I used red dots on pistols in both the center fire and the ream fire categories. So a lot of times over the last few years, as I've sort of stayed away from the red dots on pistols, and I've pointed out all the potential failure points, people say well you should give it a try Rob, you might come around. Well, again, I've been giving it a try for a long time and understand the context where it works, and the context where it's a huge benefit. And then I also think I have some insight into defensive shooting skill development, and the application of that defensive shooting skill for personal offense. And I don't see a huge overlap. So, those Venn diagrams don't come together for me in any huge way. I think that the circumstances under which red dot sights are an advantage and a significant advantage are much more controlled and much higher in the need for precision than the average defensive shooting situation. So, one of the things that gets pointed out, is well Rob if we're doing counter ambushy stuff, we're not training for the everyday, we're training for the anomaly, we're training for the extreme, right? The chances of you needing to use a gun to defend yourself at all are really small. So yeah, we go into that bubble. And we say, if we need a gun what do we need to be ready to do? Well, we start in all of our defensive shooting skill development programs with intuitive unsighted fire. So kinesthetic alignment. We're not even using a visual reference on the gun itself. People will point out, well you use red dots on ARs, while we use red dots on a pistol. One of the issues with the red dot on the pistol is the consistency of the presentation of that window, right? At the correct angle. People don't realize how much our subconscious awareness, right? The things that we're not actually focusing on, or we're not even aware that we're seeing or feeling or experiencing, the stimuli that are coming in. Our sensory systems are processing information that we may not be aware of or focused on in the normal sense. So when you drive that gun out and the front sight is in your field of vision, there's a subconscious access, to the fact that that site is there without focusing on it. Now I can then close an eye and focus on that front side, both eyes open and focus on it too. But when I focus on that, now I become much more aware of its presence. But the fact that it's there is still, the photons are being reflected off of it, hitting my eye. And my brain recognizes the pattern of a front sight. That's not the same with the red dot until the gun is parallel with your line of sight. So I can drive the gun up just, one or two degrees off angle, one way or the other left, right, up or down and not see the dot. So for someone who's starting out fresh, it's a little bit harder to drive the gun out, in the appropriate position, with a visual reference, whether it's conscious or subconscious. And we have to be honest about that. Because people said well, Rob you're not using the sites to get alignment. You're using the consistent interaction with the gun and the consistent movement of the gun to reach a consistent position. The kinesthetic alignment. Absolutely true. But we have to give some value, to the non-cognitive processing of that front site, being in the field of vision. You can obviously learn pretty quickly, especially under like somebody like Don Edwards. One of our contributors here at Personal Defense Network. He has a whole curriculum based on transitioning from being an iron sight shooter to a red dot shooter. He's approved to teach it for some law enforcement agencies. I've been through that course as a student. And there are other people who have developed some really good curricula around developing skills with red dots, especially transitioning. And that part of the community, has taken some huge leaps forward. So, I don't recommend it as you must have a red dot or you're silly, you're foolish to not go out there, but like if you're carrying hollow points or full metal jacket rounds. Yeah. Unless there's a reliability issue, which there shouldn't be with your modern gun, you should be carrying hollow points. I would say that as a piece of advice, right. You should be using a modern striker fired gun that doesn't have extra levers or buttons, safeties, De-cockers all of that. I would say that as a piece of advice. I'm not ready to say you should have a red dot on your pistol. where I have gotten to and this is what the video I did yesterday was talking about. I have gotten to the point, where I'm also not gonna say, don't do it. It's ridiculous. Stay away from it. And a whole bunch of reasons. One is the learning curve, from a lot of the instructors that are doing specific work around this has been shortened for a great number of people who just find it, with proper coaching, with the methodologies that have been developed by guys like Don, to get you into that dot faster when you need the visual reference, for higher levels of precision. That learning curve has been shortened dramatically. Reliability of the optics themselves, especially reliability when compared to a price point. Let's go back to talking about Holosun, where for a couple hundred dollars now, you can get a good quality red dot, for the top of your pistol. And also the cost of getting the gun and the red dot together, right? Five years ago, you had to spend a lot of money and you had to be without your gun for a period of time to get custom cuts into your carry gun. Today, almost every major manufacturer, offers their popular carry guns with slides already cut for red dots. So, whereas you might've been doubling the cost of your pistol just a handful of years ago, now you're adding a couple of hundred dollars, to the cost of your pistols, which at this point is, a few boxes of ammunition. So it really, the price has come down, the reliability has gone up. And the learning curve, the training models, have been very well established, how to get people comfortable with the red dot. Though that still doesn't change the fact, that if you the Venn diagram, of where does a red dot help you, and the diagram of what are you most likely to need to do when you shoot, there isn't a lot of overlap there. So keep that in mind, right? Yeah, you're gonna get better qualification scores. You're gonna do better in competitions. You're gonna shoot tighter groups. You're gonna hit smaller targets further away, but is any of that really related to defensive skill application? Very, very, very rarely. So I'd be well, my guns ready for it yet. Yeah it's ready for it, but you also introduce some potential new failures. And once again, there's the training cost and the learning time costs. So, is it recommended that you have a red dot? No. Is red at a horrible thing? No. If you wanna get into a red dot, make sure that you are training with it, especially if you're transitioning. And look for a guy that that's really spent a lot of time developing that curriculum. If you, you call me up and say, "Rob I just got to red dot on my pistol. "I wanna come to your class." I'm gonna say, you know what, go take a green line tactical class, right? There's some other guys out there that have really specialized in red dots. Work on them for the transition. Then come take an IDs class. Or take an IDs class with your iron sight gun, and then go off to those guys. Although, I will say, Don is gonna be putting on a seminar, for some of our IDS instructors, that are coming to a conference in March, giving them some instructor development tips, on how to integrate and be more comfortable with students with red dots, right? So, it's not to say that there should be any reason, any good, competent, modern defensive firearms instructor shouldn't be comfortable with you having a red dot in the class. I'm comfortable with you having the red dot in the class. But there are other people who specialize in it. So look for some of that. And look for some of that information right here, at Personal Defense Network as well. The holster store just made one for me. CCP a little bit then. Oh, okay. So I guess this is Rob's thrown in some advice, going back to maybe our first question. So talk about the holster store. Custom holsters, always a good idea. If you have some kind of an odd ball configuration. And by odd ball, there's nothing necessarily oddball about a Walther CCP, with the Crimson trace 205 in any pejorative way. I'm not trying to demean that choice. It's just, it's not common enough of a combination, for the major companies to probably have that off the shelf, right? And that's sort of what I was getting at too with crossbreed There are some light and gun combinations, that crossbreed may have, but if you are light and laser or a pistol or red dot combination isn't there, you don't want to go with a holster that isn't made for it. So a custom holster may be the way to go. And most of the major companies still have some level of customization available as well. If you reach out to 'em. It may take you while to get that though. What do we got? Another holster question. Be great to carry a subcompact in an inside the waistband holster for the summer. But options require a T-shirt, or a large holster pad to prevent firearm skin contact. So holster pad seem to make it more difficult to get a good grip on the firearm. So, Alan, I'm gonna just kind of reverse that a little, like step back from that. Why don't you want the gun to touch your skin? Like I, my gun touches my skin 99% of the time. I'm not a big fan of those pads. I think if what you're talking about or any kind of like a sweat guard or a sweat shield, something that keeps the gun off your body. Again, especially if they interfere with you getting as good a firing grip on the gun while it's in the holster. So again, all carry is a compromise. Yes, concealability and comfort are issues. So, if you're going for deep concealment, small gun inside the waistband, and you're going for more comfort, that sweat shield or skin shield, whether it's leather, kydex, to keep the gun from pressing against your body. People worry about surface rust, sometimes things like that, on some of the metal, the slides of the guns, but I'm a big fan of not using that, right? Putting up with a little less comfort and making sure that you can get a good grip on the gun. In fact, Mark Craig had an eye at crossbreed, for years kind of back and forth. They had what they called the combat cut and my position on it was you're selling holsters for concealed carry, defensive carry, combat. All this, the standard should be the combat. The standard holster for defensive holster line, should be the one that allows you to get the best grip. And if you want to, yeah we'll leave some of the leather on there and we'll sell you the one where the gun is kept off the body more, right. But that also then as noted, interferes with getting as good a grip as possible. So again, balance it out between comfort and your ability to get the gun out of the holster, that's something you're gonna have to figure out, but it definitely is an issue. I personally would rather have the good grip than that extra bit of comfort. But at the same time, I carry the leatherback holster, because the leather versus the kydex, is where I go to comfort, right. Over the gun just raw security, of how secure the gun is in the holster. So it's a balancing act. Kim says, do I have a cane for defense DVD pro? Yeah, there actually is. And so it's been around forever. Funny story. I'm in Reno, Nevada, teaching in December at Reno guns and range, Ken Crawford, he's been featured in some of the videos we've taped, some of our PDN videos there. He's the guy who runs the range, he's a range manager at that location. We're all going to lunch. And it was something was happening at the car. And guy walked by and said something friendly, whatever it was. And I made a response back to him but he was walking with a cane. So, he goes into the restaurant we're going into as I'm walking in there, I notice the logo on the cane is, it's a cane master. And cane master canes are like the preeminent most awesome defensive canes available. I think I got my first one in like 1998, 99. And at the Bahala Training Center, we used to run a cane defense training program, because a cane is something a wooden cane, you can carry it on a plane, a museum, you can carry it internationally. Any city. It's one of those things, from a most day carry standpoint. It's a great defensive tool that you can carry with you anywhere. And it's pretty innocuous, right? Particularly if you're an older person, and you might look like you need it for medical reasons. If you're a like fit 23 year old dude, strutting around, carrying the cane like you're gonna beat somebody with it, it might not be as innocuous, but for a lot of people, it's a great tool, that's relatively clandestine, for you to carry in what we consider non-permissive environments. Gun-free zones, places where you can't carry a gun or a knife or anything else. So I've carried them internationally, carried them on planes, trains, whatever. And yes, I did teach that for a long time. I could still teach it today. It's just not something that seems particularly popular. We did a training DVD on cain defense and we have some videos out there. But Cain Master, the company, it was founded and the original kind of practical martial arts, less artsy, more marshal approach to using a cane for defense was developed by guy named Mark Shuey. The guy walking into the restaurant was Mark Shuey. And of course we had interacted back when we used to produce that cane information and we'd get those canes for guests at the Baha'ullah training center and help them find the exact right configuration and the carvings and the colors and the right wood and the weight and the length and all that stuff. So there he was the cane master himself. Mark Shuey walking into the same restaurant. Hadn't seen him in over a decade. So it was, so yeah, that's definitely part of the history of Personal Defense Network and my teaching history, and they're great tools, great training aids I'm sure you could still get the DVD, probably as a download, because most of us don't have DVD players handy anymore. That download is gonna be available from Personal Defense Network.com. Take a look there. But there's also probably some free videos that you can look at or maybe some articles out there as well. What we're gonna do now, is take just a minute, because I know there's well over 100 people here now, and I'm assuming that some of you are first-time visitors to Personal Defense Network, first time viewers of our live, and maybe you're not even aware of everything we do at Personal Defense Network. The easiest way to get tied in the Personal Defense Network is to sign up for our free newsletter. And here's a little bit more information about that. I'm Rob Pinkus, the Executive Director of Personal Defense Network. 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And we have some new stuff coming out from Kevin Dixie, from No Other Choice Training. He has done some of his first contributions and he'll be one of our instructors, joining me on the tour this year as well. The tour is back for 2021. More information about that coming out in the next couple of weeks. But look for continuing additions to our contributors list. And of course, I'll be here plugging away, putting out information as best I can as well. So PersonalEventsNetwork.com. Never would've thought in 2005, that I would have been able to work with so many great people for such a long period of time. And continue to be able to bring that to you again for free through the newsletter or even at our advanced engagement at the higher membership levels. Really proud of the work. Please take advantage of it and share it. Find a video, find an article, maybe this live stream, share it to people that you think can benefit from it as well. Let's see, Rob talks about his the whole, I did the same thing. So I joke about the 40. I know some people have put those 40 caliber barrels back into their guns that they've converted, and found those magazines in a shoe box or whatever, because they happen to have a few hundred rounds, a 40 caliber that piled up in the closet or whatever. And they're shooting them now because nine millimeter got awfully expensive over the last few months and maybe even hard to find. So some of the forties are back on the range, just out of necessity if nothing else. Let's see what point is there too technology? Lights, lasers, red dots, what happens when they break? So, yeah that's a valid question. It's coming to us from one of the people that are watching live on YouTube right now. That is not as much of a concern from my standpoint, because of the quality that we have in so many different options, right? There's so many different companies out there. Whether it's a Holosun or Trijicon or Aim point or VIridian or Steiner, there were companies out there that make very, very high quality technology, right? That's gonna be attached to the gun or maybe used in conjunction with the gun. We talk about flashlights, right? It's not the durability or the reliability of the technology or battery life or any of that stuff that bothers me anymore. For me, it's task loading, right? If we think about what we were really gonna need to do in that worst case scenario, I don't wanna have to be burdened with, this switch, that switch, left or right up or down, push it in, twist it. What am I, all the options that come with that. A lot of things are just more complicated than they need to be. And by layering a lot of different actions and options like into your trigger hand for example, your gun hand, you're control hand. If your control hand also has a pressure switch for a laser, and your trigger finger is also gonna do a toggle for a light on your gun, well, that's a lot going on, right? And I'd rather the gun is the gun. And the light is the light. And if I had to choose between a red dot sight, and a white light and a laser attachment for a defensive gun, I'm gonna choose the laser. And that may not be the answer that you would hear from very many other instructors. And I get why the white light is something that people focus on. I get why the red dot sight is become the kind of cool trendy new piece of technology that people wanna talk about on their pistols. But the laser, which has been around forever as an option, in a lot of different ways, to me is the one that really expands the circumstances under which you can use the gun to defend yourself in a very applicable and practical way for close quarters defense as opposed to the red dot, which again, as we discussed before the commercial break, the red dot expands the capabilities you have with the gun, but usually outside the scope of typical defensive shooting situations. The white light, people talk about knowing and identifying what your target is or what the threat is. Yes, absolutely. But the idea of like pitch black, like locked in the basement with, the guy from silence of the lambs, that is, that's not really where most people find themselves needing to use a gun for defense. There's, all kinds of ambient light. Even at night or in the dark. You're not searching. This is one of the really important distinctions between personal defense and the tactical operations with guns and lights that military or SWAT guys do. You're not searching for threats, right? That shouldn't be something that's really in the vernacular. You might be searching for an exit. You might be searching for a barricade area. You might be searching for a family member. You may be moving in the dark and need light, but you shouldn't be looking for the threat, right? That's kind of the wrong way to look at it for personal offense. So, having your hand on the gun or your gun stage and your hand on the gun and the holster somewhere, and that white light in your hand is separate. Once I find and identify a threat, that's when I bring the gun up. Now, a backup light, a second light on the gun, or on a long gun, not a bad idea at all. But let's get back to the laser. What does the laser do? The laser allows me to the aim the gun, when the gun isn't in my line of sight. So you think about it. When you're using a red dot sight or you're using the iron sites, aided by a white light handheld or on the gun. The gun is extended in and parallel with your line of sight. The only way I can reliably aim the gun. If I'm out of contact, I'm not using a body index. If I'm outside of contact distance and I wanna aim the gun when it's not in my line of sight, that's where the laser comes in. And we certainly can think of a lot of plausible scenarios where the gun can't get up into my line of sight. I'm injured, blocked in a car, under a table, whatever it is. For whatever reason I can't get the gun into my normal shooting position. Having that laser on there still lets me very very predictably know where that bullet's gonna go when I press the trigger. And that's why the laser, of all the technology you can put on the gun is the one that I think actually expands its usefulness in the defensive context more than anything else. Let's see what we got here. Off-body carry. Ladies concealed carry purses, teach off-body carry is a last resort and the purse then doesn't leave your body. I agree with that. Maybe a little bit extreme on the last resort, but I agree in general that on-body carry, having the gun in a holster attached to your body, infinitely better than having the gun in a holster not attached to your body, right? And then there's the prevention of unauthorized access it piece, which I think is maybe a big part of not letting the gun, go away from your body. I've got a bag here that is capable, right? So in this bag, this bag is pretty close to me most of the time. It's gonna be my carry on bag here in a couple of hours. Has got emergency medical equipment in here. It's got a ballistic panel in the back. It's got all kinds of stuff on there, but it's all airplane friendly stuff. 'Cause it is my carry on bag. But if I were to want to use that to carry a gun and maybe it's a PDW, a folding stock or collapsible stock or something, or it's a pistol in like an OHI module from crossbreed holsters. So you've got the hook and loop fastener, kydex on leather, gun goes in there and it sticks in one of the pouches that's designed. That's a bag from five 11 that does have a that hook and loop fastener in there. And it's designed to accept some of those holster modules. I would not be in a situation. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I would even leaving this room to go to the bathroom and leaving the gun unattended, not a responsible gun owner option, right? Particularly if my daughter were running around or other kids are running around, or I don't know whose kids are running around here, bring your kid to work day at the office, particularly during Corona times, if the schools are closed or whatever, now I've got a gun here that that is not locked up, right? Because it's a quick access, open the zipper grab the gun kind of situation. So, there's all kinds of problems, right? Now the question is, well if I get up and go to the bathroom, you're at lunch you're gonna pick up your backpack and take it with you. Then now you've got all kinds of questions. why are you in the backpack? What's in the backpack? What's going on with the backpack. And all of a sudden it becomes practically open carry. Because now everybody's aware that you've got the gun in there. Maybe not a big deal. Maybe it is a big deal to you. So off-body carry in a bag, backpack, purse whatever it is, it makes more sense for a woman to, kind of contextually in our society, take her purse to the bathroom. It doesn't make as much sense for a guy to pick up the backpack or for a woman to take her diaper bag. You know if the diaper bag is where the gun is. So, there are a lot of social considerations, control, safety, responsibility, considerations with off- body carry. But the big point of off-body carry is accessibility for the defensive use of the gun, right? So if you take away all of the social factors and all the responsibility access factors, there's still the issue of how quickly can I get the gun into use in an emergency, right? Is the gun in the bag better than the gun at home in a box? Sure. But the gun on the body is always gonna be a better option. You know maybe not always. Asterisk on the always, we try to avoid absolutes. But 99.9% of the time that gun on the body is going to be the better choice. Carrying is a compromise, right? So, if you accept the compromise of the access issue, make sure you're also paying very, very close attention to the accessibility issue and the security of that gun, if you choose to carry off-body. Here's the kicker though. If you're gonna carry off-body, make sure you're practicing your access of that gun, from the bag. So in other words, I would want to go through the whole process, right? I wanna have the gun in the bag. I wanna pick up the bag, secure the bag, open the pouch, reach in, access the gun, bring the gun out, drop the bag, drive out and take those shots on the range. Just like I would have to do, if I were in the office or at the restaurant or wherever else I was, in the car and I needed to access the gun. I see too many people stage it, right. To where they start the process of presentation from the holster, for example, women with the purse, with the purse already clenched, already pushing the strap forward against their arms, clenching down with their elbow. The purse is secure and it's like, standby go. Like it's a competition phase, right? Part of it needs to be, the oh I need my gun and securing that purse and then opening it up and then drawing the gun and thinking about flagging yourself, flagging others, coming away from your body versus staying close to your body. Yeah, you wanna try to get it, so that your off body presentation, the presentation from the bag, the purse, the briefcase, emulates as much as possible an on-body presentation. What does that mean? Well, a purse or a backpack might be very much like a shoulder holster, right? Same thing. A briefcase or a bag might be very much like coming out of a slide holster or I can even emulate appendix carry by bringing the gun from the bag or the purse to here, which is where the gun comes when it comes out of my concealed carry appendix holster here, and then I orient the gun, rotate and drive out or stay in the ready position. So the more you can overlap your presentation, from the bag of the briefcase, the box, whatever, right. Even how I'm doing a quick access safe. I bring the gun to my body and then I orient it, right. I bring it to the ready position. That's what I train to do. I don't train to go from here to a shooting position. I train to go to a ready position because that's infinitely more likely. That I'm gonna, if I'm getting the gun out of the bag or the box, I'm going to take it and go to a ready position, not directly to a shooting position. I could, right? But I'm gonna train to go to a ready position. And then I have a much more consistent presentation when it comes time to shoot. And I'm not flagging the gun around when I don't need to shoot, right. 'Cause if I'm just going to a ready position, I don't wanna flag the gun around and then get there. I want it to be part of my process. So the way you train to access the gun becomes incredibly important as well. I've got about 10 minutes left. So if you have questions, throw them into the live chat. Again, in the control room, they're monitoring the YouTube, they're monitoring the social media, they're monitoring the emails, so, I am getting some of the things but we have a very engaged group. We still have over a hundred people here. I appreciate that very much. Let's see what we got. Crimson Trace on the trigger guard. It doesn't block the iron sites, that way I learn to shoot more easily with either. Yeah, I mean the Crimson Trace Lasers. I don't know if they were first, but they certainly were the first ones to become, respected in the defensive training community, right? So the first ones that I think I was aware of, for sure. So Crimson Trace is out there. One of the other lasers that I had for a while, on one of my duty guns in law enforcement was a laser max, on one of the guide rods. And those have had fans and not fans and good reviews, bad reviews over the years. The example that I had was very reliable and very easy to use. The trick was as holsters have gotten better, you need to be aware of that if you had one of those and I've seen unfortunately I've seen a negligent discharge resulting from this bad combination, of that oversize take-down lever for the Glock in particular, that is the access on and off for the guide rod, that makes the battery connection to the switch connection. Those wings that stick out a little bit further on the take-down lever on the Glock, do not interact well with holsters, that are designed to fit the Glock very closely. So as holsters have gotten better. Kydex holsters have gotten more form fitting. Some of those attachments cause problems that can be safety issues. So that just kind of jumps to mind there for some reason. An older SAX Springfield armory XD nine, found an optic mounting plate, JT defense. It sits above the slide and lift the red dot higher above the barrel than normal. Yeah, I would say that this is part of the compromise, right of the red dot. To where a handful of years ago, I was like, don't even mess with it. It's not worth it. It's not worth the money. It's not worth the time. It's not worth the effort. They aren't as reliable as I think they need to be, at a fair price. And they don't really help you that much anyway in the context of defensive shooting. So just pass on the red dot for now. It's come a long way, right? As I listed before, at the beginning of the, towards the first half of this live chat, we have come a long way from there. That's not. So don't hear me saying, so yeah red dots make more sense now than they did five years ago, and then use like five-year-old approaches, to the red dot on a defensive pistol solution. So those mounting plates, the cantilevered mounts, that are more competition oriented, those things for a home defense gun maybe, but I wouldn't suggest you rely on that for a carry option. Especially because like the more attachment points and the more mounting plates and risers, and screw this down, tighten this, the less machined and fitted and properly made, kind of modern manufacturing. This is the way it's supposed to be. The less of all that. The more likely you have failure points. And those failure points can be, not just the failure points of like literally the thing falling off, but it also could be in terms of maintaining zero, the alignment, the reliability, the presentation from the holster, the bigger and bulkier it gets, the holster that are available for you. The concealability, the comfort, the more surface area too on those risers and mounts and screws and everything else, the more opportunity to create. And this is a little obscure, but think about it, the more edges you have and the more size you have, the more rubbing is happening against your clothing as you conceal. And that creates more opportunity for lint and dust to gather, especially in an open emitter red dot site, to gather up inside of there and potentially obscure your vision, or occlude the red dot, all of those things. So just keep all that in mind. The ham-fisted approach is probably not the way to go. You know what you're gonna wanna do if you wanna commit to the red dot. You get a contemporary slide, something that's produced by the manufacturer, or one of the many high quality people that have been doing it for years now, to cut that slide. So it'll fit your red dot site. And again, be specific through the type of site you're gonna get. So if you're gonna get the hollows and 509, that's a different shape than the 507. 99% sure that's true. So, there's different shapes across different manufacturers. So whatever the other, the vortex is, or the Trijicon, the Aim Points, all of those are different things. So, make sure you're getting it done properly, as reliably as possible. Ghost says, most people have enough Yeah I agree. Ghost Tactical. And Ghost Tactical's another one to follow on YouTube. He does a lot more of these live things than I do quite honestly, than we do through Personal Defense Network. Good solid guy. Good solid thoughts. And one of his good solid thoughts that he's sharing with us right now is that yeah, a lot gets made about white lights, that probably doesn't need to get made about white lights. This idea that you must have a light on your gun, no. Must you identify your target, absolutely. But the light in your hand is far better, I think, and far more versatile than the light on the gun. If you look at the defensive shooting situations that occur, and again defensive shooting situations that occur, very, very, very very rarely. Is there anything close to a need to have a light on the bad guy from your gun, while you're deciding whether or not to shoot them? I mean, by definition, if you're guns out here in front of your face, you've already made the decision to shoot. That light and that identification, has either come from some other source or you've pointed a gun or pointed a gun even in the direction. In general, we talk about indirect and intermittent light. But when you watch those videos, think about if you're in your house and you're looking for your family, you're looking for your kids, to make sure they're safe. You don't wanna be doing that with a gun in your hand, bouncing the light around off the wall and the floor, if you don't have to. So that search technique, for a military law enforcement environment is completely different from looking for a family member or moving towards a barricade area, right? Or even in a public space. If you're in the mall and the lights go out and the bombs go off and terrorists are running around, and you're coming around the corner with a gun in your hand then a white light, when the police are coming in, that's also a potential recipe for disaster, right? So hand on the gun, staged in the holster, hand on a light, using that light, to find your way out of the dark area, find your way to the barricade, find your way to your family member, infinitely better than putting the light on the gun. But again, most people have plenty of light, most of the time to see where they're going. And as Ghost also points out. We know the layout of our house. One of the things you should probably be doing, is leave the lights off in your house. You get up in the middle of the night and you're gonna use the bathroom or gonna get a glass of water. Just don't turn the light on, right. I mean you squint like, kind of it takes time to adjust anyway, right? So leave the light off. Find your way around your house. Try it tonight. Move around your house, go find, something you left on the kitchen table or go get the glass of water, go to the bathroom, go brush your teeth, without turning the lights on. You'll probably be fine. You know what your house, you know how your house is laid out. You know where your stuff is. You'll be okay. Let's see. Sign up to receive a free digital download, of five tips for using a subcompact pistol. And there was a link provided for that. There it is right there underneath my face. I see it on the screen next to the camera. So do take a look at that? You know, sub-compact guns. It doesn't mean what it used to mean, right? When I first started looking at subcompact guns and this is we address this when we talk about backup guns or second carry guns. Subcompact guns used to mean like sea camps in your pocket or NAA, single action revolvers. Subcompact guns are the primary carry guns for many of us. I carry that Glock 43 L. I've carried before the XDS four-inch. Those are our sub-compact guns in general gun guy speak right. In the gun world, those are small single stack, low capacity guns. But they're nothing like the old, AMT 380's or the C Camp 32's, the Tip Up Barrel Beretta, the Jet Fires and things like that. Like those guns, the Beretta Tomcat, double action. Those guns were truly, too small to be like, awesome, right? But they were great for concealment and very convenient to carry. They still exist. They're still options. But the subcompact gun category has come a long way. There are some things you should think about, in terms of how you carry them, how you plan to shoot them, maybe inside of those tips to, you think about recoil management. You're gonna think about making sure you have good quality sites on those guns. Just like a full-size gun. There are a lot of advantages to a single stack subcompact gun for carry. Again it's generally what I choose to carry. Is the 15 plus one round Glock 48 with shield magazines considered a subcompact gun? Probably not by today's standards, certainly not by the old standards, but they do fit into the category of something different from a regular double stack full-size gun. So there's some things you think about when you're training, when you're carrying and even when you're getting ready to purchase one as a carry gun. So take a look at those five tips. We are just about out of time. I have, I'm gonna kind of scroll through here really quick. There is one question I have from social media that I wanna get to. But this is interesting. What has been reported as the many new gun owners over the last year. How do I suggest they go about preparing? Okay we're gonna do this. This is gonna be our last question. The new gun owners. First, and I've said this several times over the last eight, nine months, we've made a lot about the new gun owners. And what's, what's the first thing you wanna tell the new gun owners. Well, become a member of Personal Defense Network and learn everything that you need to know new gun owner. That would be a good piece of advice. You can share this obviously, share this live stream, share PeronalDefenseNetwork.com. Share the newsletter. Get the people the information, because if somebody ran out and bought a gun and they were scared about the pandemic, or they were scared about social unrest, or they're scared about potential gun control from the new administration and they're gonna get the gun while they can. And then they look around and they say wow ammo is expensive. And classes in my state, the ranges are shut down, or it's hard to gather in groups, or whatever, I'm afraid of the Corona. So I'm not gonna go to a group class. Well, Personal Defense Network.com can provide a lot of education. Ultimately, yes. Those new gun owners are going to need to get to the range. They're going to need to go out and train. And I hope that they find training where they're really focused on defensive use of a gun. Presumably that's why they bought the gun. When they go to get the training, whether they're gonna permitless carry state, they're only gonna carry, they're only gonna stage the gun at home, or they are gonna get a concealed carry permit, merely meeting the state requirements for concealed carry permits, is not preparation for armed defense. So good practical training. The USCCA's Defensive Shooting Fundamentals Program. The Intuitive Defensive Shooting Program that I run through ICE Training Company, any of the programs that are related to that defensive firearms coach program, the Old Gander Mountain Program, there's 60, 70 instructors running around the country, they got certified through that. Good quality defensive firearms training is different from just marksmanship training, or concealed carry permit qualification classes. So that's important. I would also tell all the new gun owners that what you're really needing to think about here is when should you use the gun? We talked about this in the gold membership live meeting we had earlier today. Should versus could. An incredibly important lesson. And the most important lesson for new gun owners is that your number one responsibility as a gun owner, is to prevent unauthorized access to your gun. Don't let the kids get it. Don't let the malicious get it. Don't let the criminals get it. Don't let the untrained and uneducated have access to your gun either. And that includes you, if you haven't learned the basics, if you haven't taken the class, if you haven't gotten the practice, if you don't really know how to use that gun, don't carry it in public. Get the training, get the education, bite the bullet or in this case, buy the expensive bullet. Get the ammo, through the gun in a class with supervision. It's your right to carry a gun, but it's your responsibility to be prepared to use that gun and to carry it safely with accountability. So that goes for all of us, new gun owners, old gun owners. I appreciate everybody who tuned in today to the Personal Defense Network live Q&A, We maintained well over 100 people just about the entire time. That is awesome. Please share this with somebody, whether it's a new gun owner or somebody who's maybe a little complacent, they've been gun owners their whole lives, that kind of thing. Share Personal Defense Network with them. Go into the search bar, type in a topic you're interested in. Again, hundreds of free articles and videos, find something you think other people can use and share it with them. Post it on your social media, send it to them privately, text them the link, whatever you're gonna do. Share this information. Make the entire community better prepared and more responsible. Thank you very much for joining us today, and look for more information about our March 11th showcase. Kevin Dixie, Don Edwards, Derek Pool will be live on the range. Ancient City Shooting Range on March 11th, talking to a bunch of, buy about a bunch of cool products, staring some thoughts and training tips and the Personal Defense Network training tour 2021, launches on March 13th. I'll be teaching pistol class also at Ancient City Shooting Range. More information about our sponsors, our contributors and classes all across the country through the spring and fall coming up soon. Thank you.