I took that course in March. It was well worth the time and the expense. Started out very basic, ended with techniques and time pressures that strained my skill level. The instructors were competent and good at teaching. I liked that they spoke well, avoiding profanities typical of many other courses. Lessons learned:
- Gloves are good for protecting hands. I also found that Glock trigger and gloves are a bad mix, same as with revolvers.
- Holster selection is key. One of my holsters proved dangerous in use, as the lack of sweat guard allowed clothing to enter the trigger guard on re-holstering. Another holster wouldn’t stay on the belt at all when tugged. Third one retained the gun well but didn’t allow the laser to be used. I also found that using a 1.5″ dress belt with 1 3/4″ loops cause IWB holster to sink below the waistband line and made it impossible to get a firing grip. I upgraded to a proper 1 3/4″ Galco gun belt upon return and it made all the difference. IWB holsters are definitely slower in use than belt slides. Swear guards (sideguards) are, to my mind, mandatory for a defense holster to avoid accidents on re-holstering.
- Large magazines are better than small. Being able to fire 18 rounds before reloading allows to give more attention to the targets.
- Sighted fire works better than unsighted. However, unsighted fire is quicker and allows simultaneous movement. Laser visible in daylight would have been a big help and falls between sighted and unsighted fire in terms of speed.
- People using compact firearms were at a disadvantage. People using DAO guns were actually doing as well or better than people whose pistols had better triggers. Not sure if that was because they were better trained or DAOs had some advantage.
- The course proved equally valuable to experienced and inexperienced shooters. The expected Front Sight sales pitches were minimal and restrained.
- Cover garments have to be considered carefully. A folding knife in my right side pocket almost knocked me out when I swept the hemline out of the way and it wrapped around my back towards my head. I also hit the side of the jacket with the muzzle once and only following the rule to keep trigger guard vacant prevented a discharge.
- Frequent training is necessary. Live fire is less necessary. Shoot/no shoot targets are essential for encouraging judicious use of gunfire.
I took the 4 day Defensive Handgun course in October of 2009. It was worth every penny I spent. I came a way with a few similar lessons.
1. Dry fire training is a valuable tool. If you really do it, it will help you. The more you practice at home the less likely you are to bleed in combat.
2. Have a good holster and a good belt. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a weapon and ammo and then use a Uncle Mike’s holster and Wal-Mart belt. These two items are equally as important as a good weapon.
3. Have a good gun. And money is not always the answer. The guy next to me with the $2000 custom Kimber 1911 spent more time cussing his gun than shooting it. My $500 Glock went bang. Every. Single. Time.
4. I carried 3 mags in mag holsters and one in a pocket. Plus another pocket full of ammo. It was nice to be able to spend more time punching holes in paper. Next time I will have at least 4 mags on my belt with a hot spare in my back pocket.
5. The classes where they teach technique, mindset, and legal issues were just as valuable as range time. It was eye opening if you had not spent much time thinking of this issue.
6 Cover garmet was important. I too tried to crack my skull with the rock I put in the pocket of my vest to weight it down. A little sweeping action goes a long way.
7. Physical fitness is important. I am a tad overweight, but I held my own. I went in October when the heat was reasonable. I think it would have been harsh going in say May or early June.
8. Go with a open mind. I was a fairly good shot when I went. But I listened carefully and tried everything they wanted me to do. Some of it worked for me…a few things didn’t. But for those 4 days I did it their way. I paid attention. When it was all said and done there were 3 distinguished graduates and 10 graduates out of a class of 40. I was one of the 10.
Thanks for the insights!
Thanks for the write-up. I’ve seriously considered a trip to their Nevada facility, but after hearing a certain national talk show refuse to say anything good about it, I was somewhat leery. I think I’ll reconsider a trip.
“People using compact firearms were at a disadvantage”. Why? Just capacity issue or something else.
I”m not sure what Swear guards (sideguards) are. Do you have any photos of a holster with and without, by any chance?
With: https://blog.olegvolk.net/gallery/d/39926-2/sideguard_coonan357_0843web.jpg
Without: https://blog.olegvolk.net/gallery/d/39642-2/sideguard_bodyguard_0153web.jpg
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Re: sweat guards, I think it\’s best if you just get in the habit of always holstering slowly and taking the slack out of your clothing with your support side hand, and even (gasp), looking at the holster when you holster. And then it wouldn\’t really matter if a little bit of shirt got into the holster because you\’d pull it out first.
Holstering is something you do once the situation is over, so I think it\’s unnecessary to do it fast or one handed, or to have super high alertness for the whole one second that it takes.
Re: sweat guards, I think it’s best if you just get in the habit of always holstering slowly and taking the slack out of your clothing with your support side hand, and even (gasp), looking at the holster when you holster. And then it wouldn’t really matter if a little bit of shirt got into the holster because you’d pull it out first.
Holstering is something you do once the situation is over, so I think it’s unnecessary to do it fast or one handed, or to have super high alertness for the whole one second that it takes.
OK …
That was intended to be a guess about the function of swear guards.
(Interesting HTML tags here.)
Yeah, one of the unintended results of class is the habit of holstering too quickly, due to the fast pace of range work. Instructors should be cautioning students about this on a regular basis.
Whacking yourself with your cover garment normally indicates too much arm/hand movement to clear a path to the gun.
One should be using the gun and holster that you would normally use in daily life. You are going to be developing some real muscle memory from all that range work. It may not translate well if you train with a full size pistol in a straight drop “range” holster, but carry a much smaller one in a IWB holster with FBI cant. I’ve seen cops using their duty rig w/level III retention for all range work except the concealed portion, where they switched to a concealment type rig, sometimes with a smaller gun. That’s being smart. Your training should be as relevant to real life as possible, otherwise you are just treating it as a game.
One of the unique things that FrontSight does is to never cancel a class due to low response. Most schools require a minimum number of signups, which can be a problem if you have to schedule time off from work way ahead of time. Plus lodging and transport reservations. When I attended the first 4-day handgun class they held back in ’96 (near Bakersfield, CA), the rifle instructor had ONE student, handgun had 28, and shotgun had 2. My rifle class had 4, and my shotgun class had 2 students. [BTW, if there aren’t enough students to have two relays, you burn through a LOT more ammo :). Which led me to have an embarrassing encounter with a couple LA SO deputies, while hunting for more non-magnum shotgun ammo in L.A. on a Saturday night. ]