So, after scanning in a bunch of old Star Course materials for OCR training, I figured why not toss them up here, too?
(Broken into four parts because while I was originally going to just cram it all into one post, I figured that at least three of the bits were distinct enough to warrant their own things and the fourth was… not so much really, but by this point it was halfway in-between two of those bits, so why not just go for it? And totally not because of anything like this… And oh yeah, maybe in honor of our getting 4th? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) So!
(And just to clarify for those too lazy to click on the link to Post 4 above [or, well, an inch or two ago], or the “Read More” below – the event was great. The stream-of-consciousness-profanity is about, well… let’s just say that if you didn’t sign up for the event when it was first announced in the middle of 2019, you would have had no idea that it was held this past weekend.)
Continue reading “(RWC 001) 2020̶1: The AAR Itself&Proper (4th)”
A’ight, so my brother and I ran the GORUCK Star Course 50-Miler in Philly over the weekend. Team Sloth, @teamslothgoruck on Instagram. Here’s the rough timeline of relevant stuff, with miscellaneous asides thrown in when relevant, way more memes than are in any way necessary, and a random blurble of semi-related stuff at the end. Steve’s stuff is again in sky blue.
(And in case you’re thinking, “Hey, this intro looks a lot like this one, and even more like this one“, then spot on.)
After performing acceptably at the Philly Star Course last year, it was kinda inevitable that we’d do it again this year, especially after our poor performance in DC. Due to this being our 3rd Star Course, our preparation was a bit more relaxed than usual. For example, I wrote our navigational website AstroNav for Philly 2018, and then made a new version for DC, but I didn’t bother with a new one for Philly 2019 (I started on one, but only worked on it for a few hours before abandoning it). The 2018 version worked just fine, and the one minor feature I added to it ended up not even being necessary.
A’ight, so my brother and I ran the GORUCK Star Course 50-Miler in D.C. over the weekend. Team Sloth, @teamslothgoruck on Instagram. Here’s the rough timeline of relevant stuff, with miscellaneous asides thrown in when relevant, way more memes than are in any way necessary, and a random blurble of semi-related stuff at the end. Steve’s stuff is again in sky blue.
Not every race is a gold-mine of gif- and meme-worthy happenin’s. Some of them are just… about as exciting as you’d think from “I ran for this many hours.”
Or I just can’t remember the details – since some of ’em were almost a solid year ago by now – and will be in no way bothered to look them up.
Continue reading “Running Recappening – Part 2: Electric Boogaloo AKA Fresh for ’18”
A’ight, so my brother and I ran the GORUCK Star Course 50-Miler in Philly over the weekend. Team Sloth, @teamslothgoruck on Instagram. Here’s the rough timeline of relevant stuff, with miscellaneous asides thrown in when relevant.
But first, here’s Steve with his intro – he had to fly out to London for work 8AM the morning after, so we’re going back and forth writing this over email:
Big picture background: Who are we?
Ahem.
[Same introduction, note, and disclaimer as before.]
WML & Recoil:
Calibers & Cartridges:
Handheld vs. Weapon-Mounted Light (WML):
Continue reading “Pat Goodale – Practical Firearms Training (PGPFT) Low-Light Handgun AAR”
[Same introduction, note, and disclaimer as before.]
Ammunition (5.56x45mm NATO):
Manufacturers:
Sights:
Continue reading “Pat Goodale – Practical Firearms Training (PGPFT) Tactical Rifle AAR”
A brief introduction – this AAR and the Low-Light Handgun and Tactical Rifle AARs to follow are all based on a private course weekend. Defensive Handgun was on Saturday, Low-Light was that evening, and Tactical Rifle was Sunday from morning until mid-afternoon. As such, it doesn’t match up exactly with the Defensive Handgun I/II/III, Tactical Rifle – X Days, etc. courses on the website, but I think it still gives a good idea of what level of detail and which topics to expect to encounter.
Another note – since these notes were written up primarily to organize and remember the concepts and drills that were covered, they omit details of the range, class setup, etc., but the range was awesome, the class setup was superb, the instructors were excellent – honestly, it’s an unqualified recommendation. I can’t think of anything negative to say about it, so if you read no further and take nothing else away from this – strong recommendation.
And the obligatory disclaimer – these were typed up from my hastily-scrawled notes and dissipating recollections over the week, week-and-a-half after two days jam-packed full of shooting and excellent (have I said that I recommend it?) instruction, so – as always – if something is wrong or seems amiss, that’s almost certainly on me. Similarly, all of the drills were done under the close supervision of trained professionals by participants whose performance levels were constantly monitored and accounted for in the instructors’ selection and setup of said drills, so… honestly, if you’re the type of person who’d read a random person on the internet writing about running through the woods with a rifle engaging targets 100+ yards away and go out and actually do that on your own, well, you either don’t need this disclaimer, or you wouldn’t heed it anyways, so… on with it!
Continue reading “Pat Goodale – Practical Firearms Training (PGPFT) Defensive Handgun AAR”
Race was good and fun. New personal-record distance! Beat my stretch goal by almost half an hour. Got new and deliciously obnoxious hardware:
Ate at least a whole pizza afterwards. Curled up by the firepit, at one point trying to reheat cold pizza over the grate.
Single-legged stepped-up onto the podium, hopped down, and didn’t blow a quad.
No new toenails for the collection, but a couple of wicked blisters.
Best of all, though, I managed to bust through my usual mid-ultra doldrums and disheartenments and keep up a nice and steady pace instead of crashing and crapping out in the last ten miles like at Bel Monte.
Thus, ranger beads – I wuv u.
Given that, like, 90% of the tiny amount of traffic here is due to a comparison between LaRue and GORUCK rifle cases, you’re probably familiar with ranger beads. If not, here are a few links.
Every ten (10) four-count steps (so, “left, right, left, one; left, right, left, two…”) move a little bead over. After moving all nine beads, next time move one of the big beads. Then start moving the little beads back. When all nine big beads are moved, the next time a big bead would be moved, switch directions on those, and you’ve got a thousand counted out.
Of course, I do wear a GPS watch, so I wasn’t worried about distance, per se. But ~2 miles (1,000 counts per cycle, 4 steps per count, 2’6″ to 3′ per step) is enough of a chunk to seem like a chunk, but still short enough (<30 minutes, usually, unless it’s hella uphill) not to turn into a drag.
Bottom line, it’s an instantiation of the old saw “How do you run a thousand miles hundred kilometers? One step at a time.”
Don Norum 