You’re never too old to learn. We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,’ well, actually you can, it just takes us a bit longer. If prepping has taught me anything, it’s that you can never know enough, you can never learn enough and you should never stop learning new things.
Working at a range/gun store I too often see folks who buy a gun, learn to shoot a little bit and that’s it. They might go as far as getting their carry permit (though many do not) and never go beyond that. They think that little card in their pocket says they’re good to go and never take the additional training necessary to actually become proficient. Over the last few weeks, I along with a couple of my co-workers, have been participating in the development of some new training classes and in the process learned quite a bit about our own shortfalls. It’s one thing to be able to put a round in the target, it’s quite another to do so on the move, from behind cover or to do so quickly when drawing from concealment.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Throughout the 3 hours of training exercises and slightly over 200 rounds I felt pretty good about my results overall as all but two rounds stayed within the 5 inch ‘kill zone,’ however, I did find myself falling short in other areas. First I learned that that little ‘glove’ I had installed on the frame of my Glock 43 has a tendency to drag on my clothing when drawing from my IWB (inside the waistband) holster and was quickly chucked in the trash. Interestingly enough, 2 others were using similar gloves (one on a 43 another on a 42) with the same results. That little glove that worked great when just putting holes in paper, was actually detrimental in more real world applications. I also learned that despite regular practice I was still quite slow at drawing from concealment, coming in at an average of 2.2 seconds from ‘threat’ to first shot on target – not good enough. Two other participants discarded their carry holsters for a different setup altogether as they came to realize the gear they had just didn’t work well for them. Understand, everyone participating in the class are certified NRA instructors, yet without exception we all found things we needed to work on. Sunday morning we will be back at it again for class 2 of 4 and I’m certain that yet again I will find areas in need of improvement.
The safe and proficient handling of firearms is just one example of skills that require training and practice to be truly proficient, but the same can be said for really any area that requires at least some level of skill. So what new skill do you want/need to learn or improve on? We would love to hear from you.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Prepper 365 