With no fanfare and on the heels of SHOT Show, Magpul Dynamics released the teaser for their upcoming video “Art of the Precision Rifle”. It features the Magpul Dynamics crew along with Todd Hodnett of Accuracy 1st. Travis Haley is in the video and according to Magpul will probably continue to appear in future video productions.
Larry Vickers will be available in Blue Force Gear (booth #26211) and Daniel Defense (booth #20271) alternating mornings and afternoons between them. You may also see him walking the show during lunch checking out new products.
At a first glance, “The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman” by Timothy Ferriss looks to be another ‘miracle’ lifestyle book that promises plenty while offering nothing of real value. However, most of the information inside is actually beneficial. It is possible, though not always practical, through using this book to indeed become “superhuman” as the title so boastfully states.
But how is this achievable? Mostly through the driving principle behind the book: the MED, or Minimum Effective Dose. A simple practice that values doing only what is absolutely necessary to achieve your goals, whether that be losing fat rapidly or quickly gaining muscle. For example, the Slow-Carb Diet described in the book promises to cause you to lose 20 pounds of weight in about 30 days without any exercise. Other techniques further assist with whatever cause you are currently pursuing.
Of course I mentioned the sometimes lack of practicality of this book. Mostly, it would really benefit from a companion publication. A “4-Hour Body Manual” or something similar, which would better define and simplify the information contained within. I say this because it’s a common occurrence to have to read through the author’s personal take on everything before you finally learn what you were looking for. Also, the author went through a wide volume of testing and describes some procedures that aren’t necessarily available or affordable to every reader.
Despite this, it’s a very good buy. It provides some very valuable information and the stories are generally entertaining. Also, the original title of the book was to be some variation of the term “Body Hacking”, so you know you’re in for a treat.
We published this article last January and thought that it was worthy of bringing up again for our new readers.
During my military career, I spent a great deal of time working with various Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy (MC&G) products and I can tell you that I am impressed with this. 3D Models have been available for years, but at a premium price and to a select customer base. Additionally, they were fragile. 3D-TTM has alleviated these issues.
Manufactured from foam, the 3D Terrain Maps are durable and can be written on with dry erase markers. Each tile is 2′ x 2′ and can be combines with adjacent maps to create as large a 3D model as needed.
The map is reproduced including all marking such as gridlines, but terrain features are “brought to life” and rendered in full 3D. This gives the use a real appreciation for contour lines found on a flat map. Check out the example below of the infamous “Tenino” map used for basic map reading training throughout the Army.
In addition for the obvious use by NCO academies, ROTC detachments, and Advanced Individual Training courses they are perfect for training locations that are used regularly such as NTC, JRTC, and even local ranges. Another interesting idea is to also have terrain maps produced for areas where a unit is constantly operating to allow small unit leaders to conduct detailed sand table briefings. I can also see these coming in handy for Law Enforcement as well as public safety professionals.
Check out www.3dtacticalterrainmodels.com for more info.
Many regular readers of SSD will recognize Grey Group Training as one of the fastest growing online sources for cutting edge gear. Some of you probably even know about the pro shop right outside of Ft. Bragg, or you may have heard some scuttlebutt about their upcoming retail ventures. The surprising thing is that many of you probably don’t know there is actually the “training†side to Grey Group. While researching this article, I was amazed at the amount of training opportunities organized for the upcoming year.
The training side actually started before the either the retail or online stores were operational. While Grey Group CEO Josh Burmeister was working for another company he began hosting classes with some of the top instructors in the world. Once he formed Grey Group he solidified the infrastructure for hosting classes, and began growing both the number of instructors as well as the footprint of the training around the country.
Along with rapid growth and success came some challenges. Running the business, teaching, and deploying on top of keeping track of the training became overwhelming for just one person. There were also limitations associated with booking classes on the old web store. So, a Director of Training and dedicated customer service representatives were hired. Then, a new web store with better functionality was created (and an even newer one will be launched very soon). These additions have provided the easy one-stop shopping training and equipping that Grey Group has come to be known for.
In this industry reputation is everything, and Grey Group has put great effort into theirs. That is why most of the premier instructors and training companies in the country trust Grey Group to handle their training schedules and backside support. The list is a who’s who in the training world includes: Larry Vickers, Ken Hackathorn, TigerSwan, Bennie Cooley, Steve Tarani, Dave Harrington, Kyle Defoor, Rob Haught, Jason Falla, Paul Howe, SouthNarc, Jim Smith, Frank Garcia, Mike Pannone, and Pat Mcnamara, Solkoa. Additionally, Grey Group will be announcing a few more soon. What makes this even better is that they schedule classes with these premier instructors in a variety of locations across the country. As of now, there are about 150 classes in over 15 locations on the Grey Group schedule for 2011 with more to be added as the year progresses. They are still working to finalize some of the dates but many are already on their web store.
Grey Group also has another side of the training industry. They provide instructors for closed training for Military, Law Enforcement, and Security Professionals. This is usually provided by instructors with tremendous resumes, but without the recognition of some of the more known instructors on the schedule. Keep an eye out for some of these new names from Grey Group. You may not know them yet, but if they are in the Grey Group lineup you can bet they are well qualified and soon to be a heavy hitter in the training world. But please, by no means think that the training offered by Grey Group is just for the pros. Sure, some of the classes have restrictions but the vast majority are open enrollment.
There are few companies that have a retail store, an online store, and a training division under one roof. Even fewer do it all to the level of fidelity that Grey Group does. Furthermore, no one else is offering this variety of training around the country. This one-stop shopping approach to training is refreshing. Next time you want to attend a class, or your unit is looking for some training, consider Grey Group Training. Training is in the name for a reason.
One of our readers pointed this out to us and after seeing it I just had to ask: Is it possible that someone converted an old Gameboy Advance SP into a shot timer? Sure, but it can’t be the device found in this still image from a KASOTC promo video; there’s just too many buttons.
Instead, it seems to be a Competitive Edge Dynamics CED8000 shot timer, which I’ll admit looks deceptively like the aforementioned handheld console. I wonder if Nintendo even knows this thing exists. I’m almost positive there’s a lawsuit in there somewhere.
-Tactical Fanboy
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Body Armor with Batteries (I love it when someone outside this industry thinks they discovered something new to write about.)
It’s no secret that physical fitness is an important aspect of being a member of the Untied States Armed forces, especially for our front line troops. The ability of our people to perform well physically in tough adverse combat conditions is a large part of mission success. Many hours of training and personal time is devoted to obtaining and maintaining this high level of fitness. However one important area is often overlooked; that being hand-strength. Not just actual gripping power, but in your ability to hold fast. Think of all the important tasks that rely on a strong grip. Carrying heavy gear, fast roping, climbing over obstacles and pulling wounded comrades to safety are just a few examples. Plus there may come a time when your ability to just hold on could save your life. Shit happens when your working off the ground. The bottom line is you need to train to improve your gripping strength and endurance like any other part of your body. In my book Corps Strength I outline several ways to condition your grip with weights. However I think one of the best and easiest ways to keep your hand strength at a high level is by using a portable gripper. There are many types; spring types, bags filled with rice, rubber balls, etc. I have tried all of these at one time or the other. They all work but I think that the “doughnut shaped†grippers made by ProGrip Trainer are the best out there. Portable, simple and durable they can be used to develop not just your overall grip but you can work individual fingers. You can also work your reverse grip by sticking them in the hole and pushing outward. These grippers are lightweight and easy to carry. As they are rubber you can carry them with you on planes with no problem. They come in different strengths and don’t cost squat. I still have the one I carried with me in Iraq. I highly recommend them, Try it.
PJ Rourke
MGySgt
USMC (Ret)
