Tango – It's A Tea Party Y'all

I Have My Conceal Carry License – Now What?

Tango — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 20:03:54 +0000

Many of you went out and “bit the bullet” so to speak, and got your CHL. So now what? I know, I will carry everywhere I go and when it is needed I will use it. Well, I have news for you. Without maintaining your firearm and using it on a regular basis at the range in shooting scenarios it may not do you as good as you think it will.

First things first. You need to use the weapon you purchased. You need to get used to how it feels, how to draw it from your holster, how to do reloads (mostly high stress situation reloads), and how to keep it serviceable. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Learn how it feels: Get used to holding your weapon. If you are used to shooting a .45, but you just bought a Glock 26 for a conceal carry weapon you are going to have to get used to the way it handles and feels. It will be different drawing that weapon than it was drawing your .45. Most of these weapons have the capability of adding a dovetail, etc to make it fit your hand better. You can also purchase different grips to help with stability. This may seem like something very rudimentary and to be passed over, but it is a building block to being proficient with your weapon, and that along with solid shooting skills will give you an advantage.
Holster draw: There are many different types of holsters on the market today for concealed carry, so we won’t go into every single one of them. Whatever you decide to get you need to practice drills with it. This should include just the basic draw from the concealed location (under the shirt, from the waistband, purse, etc) because this will help to build muscle memory. That is what you want to have, because in a gunfight or a scenario where you are being attacked you want to be able to go directly to where your weapon is with no hesitation. Fumbling around trying to find it or get it unholstered could be the difference between life and death. You need to find out where the best place to carry for you is, and that’s where you always need to carry and work from during training. Practice your holster draw in many different situations such as inclimate weather, drawing while on the ground (prone, side, and back positions), while doing a fast retreat from a bad situation, etc.
Reloads: Reloading at the range is WAY different than reloading in a life or death situation. This brings up several points. Know how many rounds your magazines will hold! When you are in a firefight the first thing on your mind is not how many bullets you have put into your attackers, but it should be. One of the last things you want to have happen is that you run out of ammo and have to reload at an inconvenient time. You always want to reload behind cover, so try to find cover every chance you get! Try to find a way to have some sort of idea as to how many rounds you have fired. Next thing, always practice reloads in a stressful environment if you can. Practice doing it after you have run for a while and you heart rate is very high. Same as with the holster draw, practice reloads from the prone, side, and back positions. Another thing to think about is how many extra mags are you going to carry along with your weapon? You should consider carrying at least two extra mags on your person. They make concealed carriers for your mags as well. Typically mags need to be on the opposite side of your shooting hand. NEVER take your dominate shooting hand off the weapon! You always want to be ready to go!
Serviceability: Knowing how your weapon works, what parts are what, and how to field strip and clean it are paramount. If your weapon is broken, missing parts, or is just so filthy that it will not operate correctly, then you are setting yourself up for disaster. Period. If you have parts on your weapon that are broken or missing, then replace them before you injure yourself or someone else unintentionally. There is nothing worse than an irresponsible gun owner. Make sure that your gun is CLEAN and lubricated properly, you are after all depending on this to defend the lives of you and your family, so keep it in working order. Learning to field strip your gun, clean it and lube it is the best thing you can do. You will see just how it works and it will get easier each time you do it. Please keep in mind, EVERY GUN IS ASSUMED TO BE LOADED UNTIL YOU PROVE IT IS NOT. NEVER CLEAN A WEAPON UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED IT AND REMOVED THE MAGAZINE AND ENSURED THAT THE CHAMBER IS EMPTY. MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM CARELESS MISTAKES.

I hope that this short article will help point you in the right direction when it comes to preparing yourself for being a CHL holder. As always, stay frosty out there! – Tango out!

OPSEC Basics – Protecting Your Plans Means Protecting Your Family

Tango — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 18:20:53 +0000

Tango here. One of the first things you need to learn in a world that is going to hell in a hand basket is OPSEC. What is OPSEC? The technical definition is: a term originating in U.S. military jargon, as a process that identifies critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by adversary intelligence systems, determines if information obtained by adversaries could be interpreted to be useful to them, and then executes selected measures that eliminate or reduce adversary exploitation of friendly critical information. I know what you are thinking, “Yeah Tango, that’s great, but what does it mean to me and my family? How can I use it, and what does it do for me?” Glad you asked! In a nutshell, for the lay person, OPSEC is the process of protecting little pieces of data that could be grouped together to give the bigger picture to your enemy. So the next few questions that you should be asking yourself are ones like;

What do I have to protect?
Is it information, or something physical I need to protect?
Who or what are the threats I may face?

Now that we know what OPSEC is there is one thing we need to address if you are going to get serious about survival of your family should something catastrophic happen. The decisions that you make will be the very bedrock decision that you will make, and will affect everything you do from that point forward. You are going to have to do an honest inventory of the people in your life, friends and family included. Everyone uses what I like to call the atom model when it comes to their daily lives, whether they know they are or not. If you look at an atom it has a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons, think of these as your very close family. There are electrons moving all around the nucleus, think of these as close friends, regular friends, acquaintances, and people you do not know. Some of these electrons are close to the nucleus and some are not. Also, notice that they move in proximity to the nucleus at different times. They are not always close to the center. Think of this as people revolving in and out of your life. Friends that come and go, new people you meet, and sometimes people from within the nucleus itself drift out towards the edges.

The point I am trying to make is this; you are going to have to take a hard look at who you let within your inner circle, who rotates right around the outside of the nucleus, and who is way on the outer edges. Everyone cannot be in your inner circle. Who has your families best interests at heart are NOT always the ones that are the best choices. The ones that have proven that they can be trusted, and are actually going down the same path are the ones that you want in your inner circle. I am by no means saying that you should abandon your family and friends, but there is going to come a time when the protection of your family will become paramount, and you will want the ones around you that have prepared like you have and have proven themselves to be trustworthy. I know that these decisions will be difficult ones, my wife and I had to do the same thing, but in the end you will be glad that you did it. This is a very important step, so don’t skip it!

So, when I say are you putting the right people around you, what do I mean? If you are preparing your family by storing water, food, ammo, guns, etc. and you have a friend that has been your neighbor for 10 years, but you don’t know them other than the occasional talk while mowing the yard or the friendly wave, would they be someone that would be there for you in a catastrophic event? What if they do not prepare at all? What if one day they saw a bunch of your food and water in the garage and struck up a conversation about it? What if you told them you were preparing your family for any number of situations, and then when that catastrophic event happens, who do you think your neighbor will be coming to see? An even better question is what will your neighbor who did nothing to prepare be willing to do for his family if things got really tough? Would they be willing to rob you, or worse, kill you for what you have. Now rewind back and think how OPSEC could have helped you in this situation. Even though your neighbor is nice, and you want to maintain a good relationship, there is no need for you to tip all your cards for them to see. Contrary to what society tells you today, it is still okay to be private about alot of things in your life. Your neighbor has no business knowing what goes on inside your life or your garage unless you want them to know. OPSEC starts with you. If you leave the garage open all the time your neighbor is inevitably going to see what you have in there. If you don’t want them to, then you need to be more disciplined about your OPSEC!

Graywolf is an excellent blogger on all things survival, and in one of his articles he said the following about OPSEC:

First Law of OPSEC: “If you don’t know the THREAT, how do you know WHAT to protect?”
Second Law of OPSEC: “If you don’t know WHAT to protect, how do you know you are PROTECTING it?”
Third Law of OPSEC: “If you are not protecting it . . . THE ENEMY WINS!”

You can find Graywolf’s blog here.

So, you need to know your threats. Who is a threat where you live? Why are they a threat? You need to know what you are going to protect, whether it is information or something physical (such as the location of a safe with silver in it, or actual food and water storage). OPSEC is a very large subject to cover in one article, as there are many facets to a successful OPSEC plan. The main thing you need to take away from this article is that you need to start being discreet about what you are doing for your family as far as emergency plans are. Not just how much food and water you have, but also about things like communications plans/channels, times and routes that you may use to escape the area, etc. The main thing is you need to start making a plan if you do not have one, because the last thing you want to do is be the other guy when the SHTF. Please respond with any questions you have at the bottom of this article, or you can reach me via PM for more in depth discussions about OPSEC on our Facebook page Its a tea party yall. Until next time – Tango out