Most SSD readers already know the name Kyle Lamb. He’s a retired Army Sergeant Major with years of special operations experience at the absolute top of the snake-eater food chain. These days, he runs Viking Tactics, teaches all over the place and continues to astonish students with his proficiency and shooting ability. He not only teaches tactics, he’s passion about inculcating a true scholarly warrior ethos in his students (by scholarly, think open minded and willing to learn something new every day, all the time). Since his classes, and seminars, and traveling apparently don’t keep him busy enough, he also designs VTAC tactical equipment, guest blogs on matters of tactics and leadership and writes books.

SGM (Ret) Lamb’s second book effort is called “Stay in the Fight, A Warrior’s Guide to the Combat Pistol.” It is available online from 5.11 Tactical.

Chambered or Not. This question always comes up. Do you have a round chambered when you are carrying concealed? Absolutely. Let me caveat this by saying one other thing. Only if you are carrying in a safe holster that will not allow the weapon to accidentally discharge. If you plan to shove the weapons in your britches and go with it, you may want to rethink the loaded chamber. I prefer a holster to save the embarrassment of dropping a weapon down your pants leg or into a third world toilet hole…not that this ever happened to me in Saudi Arabia in 1991….
Stay in the Fight, Chapter 24 pg. 264

As with any book of this type, we approached it with respectful skepticism. There can be no doubt the author has the background and chops to discuss the topics he does, but putting that sort of thing into a book, on paper can be extremely difficult. This isn’t by any means a matter of the author’s literary or teaching ability. Frankly, there are as many good instructors who aren’t able to effectively write as SMEs as there are truly awful instructors who can craft slick, well-written articles that disguise how completely out of their depth they truly are. It’s a matter of the subject content. Learning to shoot, just like learning to clear a room or learning to follow a track, is best done on the range, in the field, hands-on. The best thing a book (or article) in this genre can typically hope to do is broaden someone’s background knowledge, provide additional reference material to expand on what they already know, introduce them to a particular topic or something similar.

Stay in the Fight does this remarkably well. This is one of those rare books that really does have something to offer shooters or “tactical operators” of every skill level and SGM (Ret) Lamb’s blunt, direct speech (even candor) is refreshing as hell. He’s informative, articulate, occasionally self-deprecating and his chapters never fail to be interesting. Look, you’re not going to pick up this book and become a deadly SWAT tactical Special Forces black budget ninja pistolero even if you do memorize every single he says, worship it as tactical gospel, and quote it on the forums you frequent (which would, by his own admission, horrify him). You can read this book, at once or in pieces, in between time on the range or before going to your next course, and substantially improve your abilities. This isn’t a marksmanship book, nor does it attempt to be handgun tactical scripture. It’s a great treatise on gunfighting. Take what you want out of it or leave it. Think of it as the written equivalent to the training videos we discussed earlier in the month.

Tell you what else is nice? It’s written for every possible end user. True, only the really driven LEOs and Military personnel are going to buy it anyway, but this is written (and illustrated) so anyone that carries a gun can benefit from the author’s experience; even if you disagree with some of his assertions. (Keep in mind, he stresses at the very beginning he’s teach a way to shoot, not the way to shoot.) The photos are systematic, clear and well positioned to augment the building block style of his lessons, but all of them are fairly self contained…in other words, you can read from the foreward through to the end, or go straight to Pistol Selection or Drawing from Concealment as you need.

We recommend “Stay in the Fight”. It’s worth the money and your time, even if that means spending the majority of your “me” time in the small room for those occasions when you get to sit by yourself and think. Oh, and if you don’t get the name of the publishing group, Trample and Hurdle Press you need to get out more.

Tags: 5.11 Tactical, Kyle Lamb, Trample and Hurdle Press

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