After wrapping up the Urban Evasion Workshop, a common phrase I heard was, “I’m really glad I was concealed-carrying a firearm.”  But what if you find yourself in an environment where you can’t?  Whether it’s the location or situation, it may not be always be feasible to concealed-carry a firearm.  I had a discussion with a family member who lives in New York City. 

So, it’s the end of the world – you’ve got you bullets and beans, and you’ve stocked up on gold and silver to trade with your fellow survivors of the apocalypse.  You’re set, right?

Well, let’s take a look at that.

The shotgun is a versatile tool, and perhaps the most common firearm in the homes of America and abroad today.  It’s a jack-of-all-trades, able to hunt anything from birds to buffalo – and yet, using it in a defensive application is a bit of a specialist’s trade.

There are two metrics by which we judge someone’s performance with a firearm – accuracy and speed. It naturally follows that focusing too much on one will naturally lead to shortcomings with the other.

Magazines are a consumable wear item and we should treat them as such. In fact, Eugene Stoner’s original vision for the AR15 magazine is that it would be shipped loaded, used once, then discarded. That was not to be the case and for decades, bad magazines were still retained by shooters of all stripes.

This topic has been coming up within the Lodestone circle of instructors for years – last year, Flynn and I did a podcast about the subject, and this year, I decided it was high time we actually put our discussions into action.

Often, in our classes, someone will bring up a question about outdoor clothing. These questions mainly focus on color and pattern. As far as outdoor clothing goes, there are generally three camps…

"Do hard things. Hard things are rites of passage, hard things ground you, hard things heal you." —Jessica A.

The Project Avalanche was a 3-day training evolution and assessment of current skills in the “Austere Environment” series of training produced by Lodestone Training and Consulting. This course was run at the Ben Franklin Range, an 1,100 acre plot of land with thick vegetation, significant elevation changes, lots of natural resources, and no cellular reception.

“Hey Uncle Chris! I think Jimmy hurt his wrist!”

We were on vacation at the beach; my family, my sister’s family and my parents all packed into a rental house a short walk from the Atlantic. It was the first time my three youngest had seen the ocean, and I was applying sunscreen on the back patio when the injury was announced.

I've been wanting to write this article for a few weeks now, without knowing how to start, so I'm just going to do it. We find ourselves standing at the edge of a Cliff, looking off into the future and seeing many potential hazards. We do not want to fall down this Cliff, so we make preparations to be ready for the things to come. We make plans, we store goods and equipment, and we train. We know there are many dangers ahead. In this article, I want to address one of those dangers.

During the Season 4 Episode 21 of the Lodestone Training and Consulting podcast we mentioned that we had just signed up for our General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) licenses. I know I teach that there is no test required for the GMRS license, but I now think the test is navigating the FCC website.

Recently, I was speaking with a friend about the AR15 and optic heights. We were discussing the proliferation of high-rise optics and their pros and cons. Specifically, we were discussing if you should even bother adding back up iron sights (BUIS) with a high-mounted optic, given the difficulties presented.

There’s a plethora of ways to mount a carbine – there’s horizontal mounts, vertical mounts, flipping-backwards-throwing-a-shovel mounts, you name it. They’re a smart way to store your carbine, and some of them even offer a locking capability if you need it. That’s great.

Shotguns, on the other hand, are a different matter. Google ‘shotgun wall mounts’. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

I can’t wait for the Second Annual Pennsylvania Light Fighter Challenge! With it being held at the incredible Ben Franklin Range, it will be bigger and better than last year. It is designed to give you an opportunity to learn a little about yourself as you navigate a 10-plus mile course.

Here are a couple of reviews from students who attended our Austere Environment Survival Series: Wilderness Skills class. Students tested out their 72-Hour Emergency Kits/Bug-Out Bags, and learned skills including shelter-building, fire-starting, water purification, and more.

Bud wrote:

“Top notch instruction. I took the class with my 12-year-old son, we both had a blast and learned a lot…

As you know, the world just seems like it’s getting crazier and crazier. We felt compelled to write this article to encourage you to start to grow some of your own food or if you already do, to increase your production.

I’m sitting on a plane, flying out to Las Vegas to run a week-long Patrol Rifle class for an agency. They asked us to set up a Patrol Rifle program for them. We are going to be traveling all over the country to teach their agents the basics of Patrol Rifle. Once that’s accomplished, we will be holding advanced training for their in-house instructors. In a sense, we will be teaching ourselves out of a job.

I’ve been sitting here and contemplating how far I’ve come as an instructor.

I have been running Low-Light classes now for almost 10 years, and I have been operating in low-light Professionally almost 10 years more. But honestly, I started as a kid playing capture the flag and other such activities. I learned a lot playing in the woods and cornfields at night.

Sometimes we gain wisdom from learning from the mistakes of others. This is an opportunity for you to gain wisdom from someone who has mistreated his feet. To mistreat one’s feet is a great mistake.