Why Train?

In recent years the firearms training community has exploded.  Here in Florida we went from essentially only one range/facility offering multi-day training course to no less than eight that I can think of off the top of my head as I write this.  This boom has been fueled by a variety of things, from new facilities (at least a third of those eight didn’t even exist 2 years ago), to fear on the part of both existing gun-owners and non-owners about the direction society is headed, to constant marketing through the use of social media, DVDs, YouTube, and the creation of the firearms-instructor-as-celebrity, not to mention the large numbers of returning servicemen that are uninterested in a traditional 9-5 job.  So OPPORTUNITIES to train, and to train without extensive travel, are everywhere, and evidently some people are finding their own reasons to train, but to those that haven’t made up their mind yet the question may be “why?”  The best answer is that you will need to find your own reason, but we can attempt to offer some of the most common, as well as to attempt to dispel some of the reasons not to (AKA “excuses”).

First and foremost, it’s fun.  there, I said it.  Not zombies, not blue-helmeted UN occupiers, not revolution, or armageddon, or any of those other fantasy reasons.  Not even because of self defense, but simply because it is fun and enjoyable.  That fun stems from a lot of different factors though.  First is the fact that you’re spending a couple of days outdoors, with a group of primarily like-minded people, doing something you enjoy.  Almost everyone gets into firearms because they are looking for something fun to do.  What better way to have that fun than to do it for a couple of days in a row and with a bunch of good folks.  Virtually every single one of my good friends are people I’ve met in the shooting sports, and the vast majority of them come from training classes I’ve taken or they now attend classes with me.  Shooters are just good people.  In addition, assuming you choose your instructor intelligently, listen to what they tell you, and practice (even just a little bit), you will be improving.  Everyone likes to get better at things, whether it’s playing the piano or playing golf, or playing video games.  And training with firearms is THE ONLY WAY TO GET BETTER!

Second, along those lines, is gaining a skill (no, it’s still not “zombies”).  There are several things that every American male should know how to do, and shooting a gun is one of them.  Shooting it well is even better.  And I’ll tell you right now, if you’re shooting in a vacuum you don’t know what “well” is.  You may be the most accurate guy you’ve ever seen, but if you haven’t seen many other guys shoot you probably have no idea.  And you almost certainly have no idea what happens when you are expected to shoot with a time constraint, or after/while performing a physically challenging task, or from odd positions, or on multiple targets... You just don’t know what you don’t know.  Until you are exposed to good instruction and other, good, shooters, you really don’t know what “good” is.  There is no trigger, sight, stock, laser, bipod, barrel, or any other gizmo or widget that can replace skill.  None.  The good news is that nobody can take that skill away from you either.  You may choose to squander it by failing to practice, but if you’re going to fail to practice then what good are all those widgets doing you?  The answer is “none”.  Money spent on training and ammo for training is exponentially better spent than any widget or gizmo you could buy.  I understand that you can’t show off training to your buddies at the water cooler at work on Monday, or post pictures in the “look at my cool shit” picture thread on this or that forum, but once you understand the value of training you won’t have to do those seeking the acceptance of others, you’ll have found the confidence and acceptance of yourself.

Third, is self-defense.  Finally, we got there.  I actually prefer to simply say “practical application”, because that covers a lot more.  Let’s face it, if you are stateside, even if you are stateside law enforcement, the likelihood of actually firing a carbine at someone is infinitesimally small.  For that matter, so is firing a pistol.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good, practical skill to have, and it doesn’t mean that you can’t apply that skill to other things.  While the Second Amendment may not be about hunting or playing games, there are certainly an abundance of opportunities to enjoy those activities with the same tools.  Even if all you do is go back to plinking at the range with your buddies, with quality training you can be betting them beers and steak dinners and get your after-range meals paid for too!  No matter what your application for a gun, training will make you better at it.  and having an application will make you want to train.  Simply going to the range to make brass and noise... well you might as well sit at home and burn dollar bills.  Where’s the fun, or practical purpose, in that?  And if you really are into all that “prepping”, for whatever the disaster, if you think that simply owning the gun it is not.  Someone that DOES know how to use their gun is going to treat you like their own personal grocery store post-apocalypse.

Finally is an all-encompassing “you don’t know what you don’t know”.  The internet, and local gun range, is full of people who *think* they know what is involved in a training class.  If they have never been, they have no idea, as do you if you have never been.  Furthermore, you may have “A” way of loading the gun, or “A” way of getting into the prone, but I bet you don’t have an efficient way.  Not without someone demonstrating it for you AND observing you doing it to offer critique.  And that last bit is where “I watched a video” just isn’t cutting it.  That’s like thinking you were good at sex the first time because you had been watching porn for years.  Doesn’t make sense, and if you make me I’ll call your first girlfriend and ask her how she thought you did now that she’s got more experience herself!  All men think they can fight, fuck, shoot, and BBQ without guidance or instruction.  Bullshit.  Sooner or later you get guidance or instruction in all of these things and you realize just how much of a fool you’d been up to that point.  and guess what?  Everyone else who’s had guidance and instruction was where you are now, and they know you’re a fool too.  So if you think posting those pictures on the internet gun forum gets you admiration, you might stop and think about the fact that it’s the admiration only of other fools.

So why not train?  The excuses are plentiful.  Let’s take a look at some of the most common.

“I can’t afford it!”  On average I spend about $1,000 on a three-day sleepaway course between tuition, travel, and ammunition.  It’s a little less for a two-day, but only marginally so.  That is absolutely a lot of money.  However, to date, I have not had a single person use this excuse with me that didn’t have at least one gun in their safe that they hadn’t seen in years that is easily worth that amount on the used market.  In some cases, they might have to sell two, but they also always seem to HAVE two.  Couple that with a year’s worth of sodas, or coffee, or other crap you shouldn’t be drinking (and if you think you’re a “prepper” and aren’t healthy first, you aren’t prepared for anything) that you could be putting the money in a jar every day.  A Dunkin Donuts medium coffee is ~$2 around here, and 5/week at $2/ea is $520 saved.  Add in your daily sodas and you’re there.  But you don’t even have to do that, just sell that gun!  Yes, I am aware that the internet tells everyone not to sell any guns.  Bullshit.  We all have guns we regretted selling, but I don’t know anyone that’s regretted selling a gun to pay for training tuition or ammo for training.

“I can’t take the time off from work/family/etc.!”  Absolutely a valid issue.  We all only have so much time in the day, so many days in the week, etc. and having family put a demand on that time limits what we can do even further.  I am of the opinion that everyone needs time away from their obligations, and getting away for a weekend and doing some shooting is a great way to put all of that stuff behind you.  With proper planning you may only need one day off from work, or even less if it’s a two-day weekend course.  Dealing with the family obligations may be an even tougher challenge, but if you can’t get even two days away you probably have bigger home problems anyway.  Eventually, perhaps you can attend courses with your wife, or even with your children as they get older.  I admit to being envious of the families I’ve seen at classes myself.

“That’s just for those Walter Mitty types that want to play pretend!”  Yep, there are surely some of them in every class.  The good news is that they can be fun to watch!  In all seriousness though, don’t let a few pictures online of a few classes where guys are all decked out in Multicam with plate carriers and helmets dissuade you from getting good training.  I have taken dozens of courses from many of the biggest name instructors in the business and the most I’ve ever been required to carry is 4 magazines on my body in a Pat Rogers Carbine Operators Course.  and that number is DOUBLE what I’ve needed in any other class, and even in Pat’s class not every evolution requires that much ammunition.  At Kyle Defoor’s course earlier this year I carried a single magazine in a pouch on my belt.  Each time I approached the line I had one magazine in the pouch, one in my back pocket, and one in a cargo pocket.  I used the cargo-pocket magazine to load the gun, and I rarely encountered any drills where I even needed the magazine in my back pocket.  You don’t need all that crap, and you shouldn’t care what other people think of how you spend your weekend.  Which brings us to...

“I don’t have the right gun/gear/optic/gizmo!”  Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.  Chances are you have the WRONG part rather than not having something you need.  In the case of a carbine course if you have 5 magazines, a single magazine pouch, and serviceable iron sights on the gun then you have every single thing you NEED for the class (most will require a sling as well).  In the case of a handgun class if you have a holster, a double magazine pouch, and 5 magazines (sometimes even 3 will do) then you have every single thing you NEED for the class.  If a course requires more than this, it’s not the right class for you to be in starting out anyway.  You’ll need eye and ear protection, and some clothes suitable for the outdoors in the season, and that’s about it.  You don’t need tactical pants, a tactical vest, web belt, chest rig, or even an optic, fancy stocks and handguards, or anything else.  and only a fool takes more than he needs anyway.  You talk to any Tier 1 Operator type and they’ll tell you they carried with them everything they needed and nothing they didn’t.  But before you decide that there is some magic bean that you need in order to take a class, why don’t you ask the instructor?