Nightlife in Wyoming:
Training in low-light/no-light is a logistical nightmare for the average training company. Range hours, noise ordinances, and liability issues all conspire against night courses. Considering how rare they are, when Costa Ludus (www.costaludus.com) invited us to attend his Restricted Visibility Elements Theory (RVET) course in Wyoming we had our tickets bought, bags packed, and guns shipped faster than Senator Yee can make an illegal arms deal.
Despite being a small populace, flying into Jackson Hole is easy enough thanks to its proximity to Yellowstone National Park and world class ski resorts. You get both barrels of the Grand Tetons the minute your head pops out of the aircraft door and the scenery doesn’t stop all the way into downtown Jackson. The city itself has maintained an old west’ feel through the decades but mostly now with boardwalks and saloon doors. The brothels, gambling houses, and open sewers are long gone… for better or worse.
A ridiculously scenic hour drive south from Jackson puts you in Freedom, WY: It’s here, at the Northern end of the Star Valley, that Costa and his team built their headquarters aimed squarely at hosting students before and after full days of firearms instruction. Courses range from basic handgun marksmanship (HET1) to more advanced and specific offerings such as Vehicle Elements Theory (VET).
The Costa Ludus HQ loft, finished just prior to the first Premier course, looks like a well-lit Cabela’s man cave replete with flat screens, overstuffed leather couches, full kitchen, and fully-stocked Yeti coolers. The concept here is that students get extensive time to dig into Costa’s personal experience with gear, tactics, and 90’s era action movies- review the classics if you want to keep up. Extended question and answer sessions easily wove through the casual conversations during meals and prior to range time.