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If you brought up preparedness a year ago people would have looked at you like one of those preppers with an underground bunker and 10 years worth of food. If that is you, call me, we can be friends. Things are different now. The idea of being prepared in case of some kind of disaster is something a lot of people are thinking about. Talking to friends, family, and clients, it seems like this can be a bit overwhelming when first starting out. Anxiety levels rise when people see the potential of something like civil unrest rearing its ugly head and they are not ready. So where do you start? Like anything else I would suggest to start small. I wouldn’t start a new shooter out with some complex and stressful drill their first day on the range. Why should you subject yourself to the same stress when starting something new? So let’s break down where to start with preparedness.

Food and Water

Without food you are roughly 3 days away from doing some really shady shit for a Klondike bar. Don’t believe me? Imagine seeing your kids crying and screaming how hungry they are after 3 days of nothing to eat. Now what would you do to feed them? We live in the greatest country in the world and this is still a possibility. Let’s take the events that unfolded at the beginning of the pandemic as an example. For some reason, people decided that toilet paper was the most important asset in existence so they bought all of it. People hoarded cleaning supplies and obtaining these things became very difficult. How were the food supplies in your local grocery stores during that time? I know in my neighborhood meat sold out, bread and milk were scarce, and if you found any of these items there was usually a limit of one. All of this and we were still getting regular truck shipments to resupply stores. Take away just one resupply truck and what happens? How long do you think it will be before you can buy groceries? Don’t put yourself in this position.

Where should you start? Well, 3 days is a great place to start. The average person needs about 2000 calories a day to function well, rough estimate I know. So a family of 3 would need 6,000 calories a day. 3 days worth of emergency food would be 18,000 calories, yay math. One way I like to go about it is when doing your regular grocery shopping, buy a little extra. Think about long term dry storage foods like flour, rice, and canned foods. But make sure that it is something you actually eat. Store what you eat and eat what you store. Another option is actually emergency storage foods. Mountain House has been around for a long time, I’ve used these while camping. Just add hot water and eat. Then we have the original military MREs. Each meal is complete, just add water. These emergency storage options can last up to 30 years. You can usually get around 12-24 meals for $100. After you get 3 days down, bump it up to a week, then 2 weeks. The end goal here would be at least 3 months to whatever you are comfortable with. Just make sure you are getting foods that you actually eat from time to time and replace. Don’t get stuck with a cabinet full of expired food.

For water I would suggest starting with some packages of bottled water. Healthy humans usually consume about half their body weight in ounces. I like the 5 gallon water containers. You can get these at your local grocery store. I would suggest having a way to clean and/or filter water if need be.

I will be breaking this down into a few different categories. The next few topics that I’ll be writing about will be home defense, medicine, and power. As always, be comfortable, be confident, and stay safe!

As I became more interested in defensive use and concealed carry, I started to look for training. This is where I learned that indoor ranges suck. Now I say that with a little tongue in cheek but if I am being honest there are a ton of limitations at an indoor range. Most ranges in my area, and I know this will be different depending on where you go, have a lot of restrictions. Not permitting shooters to draw from the holster is at the top of the list, seconded by the dreaded no double taps or rapid shooting. Now I get it, we need to keep safety at the forefront and there are A LOT of new shooters out there right now. But these skills need to be practiced, especially by those that plan to carry.

After taking my first defensive pistol class, which was outdoors, I realized that things just work differently. It is a complete shift of environment so let me touch on a few big benefits of shooting outdoors.

Weather: We don’t get to pick the weather conditions when we are attacked so I suggest that you train in the shittiest weather you can stand. Shoot in the rain, snow, cold, and heat. Figure out where your downfalls are. Manipulating your firearm in these conditions is not the same as a temperature controlled range.

Drawing: Drawing from the holster is THE baseline in defensive firearm shooting. If you can’t manage to get your firearm out of the holster, you are out of the fight. This is something that can be done during your dry fire practice at home. But you need to be getting some live fire draw and shoot practice.

Moving: I don’t know about you, but my local indoor ranges don’t allow for much movement. You are going to want to move when learning to shoot to save your life or the lives of those around you.

Shooting: A defensive shooting will happen fast, and you will need to learn how to shoot as fast as accurately possible. Learning your limits of speed and accuracy as well as distance is huge.

Now these are just a handful of reasons to get outside and shoot. Lucky for you, all these things are possible by taking a reliable defensive pistol training course.

As always, please reach out to me if you have questions or would like to get some training. Be comfortable and confident!

Everyone has to start somewhere. This applies to any skill based activity. Some of us are lucky to have a parent or relative to guide us in the great endevor of firearms. I was not one of those people. Growing up my Dad had a shotgun that I never touched. I didn’t even get into firearms until later in life. There is nothing that says you cannot become a great shooter if you were not born with a pistol in your hand. Like any skill, with enough proper training and dedication, you can become good at it, but you have to start.

Start with a friend taking you to the range. Or even better look around your area and see what formal training is available. The firearm community is very welcoming to new comers. I remember shooting my first IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) match and feeling very overwhelmed beforehand. I told them it was my first match and they seemed very excited to steer me in the right direction. Your first class should be the same way. Your instructor should be eager to have you there and eager to point you in the right direction. Do not accept anything less. Vet your instructors. Ask them what they do, what training they have, what motivates them, get a comfortable feeling with them.

Don’t think that a basic pistol or concealed carry class is enough. I look at firearm training as a martial art, as should you. It is a defensive skill that that is always changing with the times. I suggest that you continue your training and always look for ways to get better. You have to start somewhere, so please, for the safety of yourselves and your famlies, START!

-Michael