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Archive | Tactics and Training
Review: Trident Concepts TACOST – Pistol 1
If your range trips lack any kind of planning, performance standards, or measurable and repeatable processes, you aren’t training to your full potential. This is part of why instruction from a professional trainer is so invaluable. They don’t just teach you how to shoot. They teach you how to train.
Unfortunately, you can’t always have a noted professional trainer, like Jeff Gonzales, on the range with you to cook up effective drills and enforce humbling standards. You can, however, keep a little bit of the wisdom that Jeff has gained over years of service as a Navy SEAL and training countless trigger pullers along with 52 of his drills tucked away in your back pocket.
Overview
TACOST, at its simplest, is a deck of cards. You can play War, Poker, Go Fish or whatever. It is an actual deck of cards. However, instead of girly pictures or cats doing ridiculous things, these cards have an efficient, standalone drill printed on each one (a total of 52 drills in all). The drills are broken down into 4 disciplines, one for each suit: Marksmanship, Speed , Baseline , and Dry Fire.
The purpose of the Marksmanship and Speed drills is obvious. The Baseline drills are sort of like diagnostic drills. They combine elements of all the other groups and provide a measuring stick for performance improvement over time. The Dry Fire drills actually include some live fire so they are really intended to be completed on the range.
Observations from Use
I have used the TACOST deck on the range a couple of times now and it is tremendous. It is hard to imagine a more portable way to carry around drills like this other than maybe a smart phone app (hint, hint). I typically don’t carry the entire deck. I like to shuffle the deck as I prepare for a range trip and pick a few cards randomly. Picking the cards at home as I prep for the range trip ensures that I can gather everything I need for the drills and choosing them randomly ensures that I am not cherry picking the drills that I am good at (you know, the fun ones).
The drills generally have low round counts. You could get 3 or 4 drills out of 2 boxes of ammo and probably have some left over. The round counts are low but the training value is high. You can really get a lot of training in few rounds.
The best thing about TACOST is the intuitive approach to training that it offers. By breaking the drills into 4 fundamental groups, Jeff has built in structure and instilled a clear idea of what you are working toward in each drill. The standards for each drill at listed on the card which makes enforcing those standards and tracking progress over time very easy. Everything you need to get the most out of each round sent down range is laid out on the cards and organized in an intuitive way. The Baseline drills give you an overall sense that the Speed and Marksmanship units don’t exist in a vacuum by tying them all together.
Wrap Up
You are about to start hearing a lot about “perfect stocking stuffers.” Well, forget all the other stuff you hear, TACOST is the perfect stocking stuffer. It is an easy way to bring structure, focus, variety, measurability, and repeatability to your training. It also happens to be pretty challenging at times. I like to call it “The Deck of Humility.”
Check out TACOST at Trident Concepts.
Review: Combat Optic Tool from Patriot Products AZ
If you are serious about training, you probably roll up to the range with more than just guns, ammo, and safety gear. It takes a lot of different tools to ensure an efficient trip to the range and all those tools add up quickly in terms of weight and bulk. Thankfully, there are tools like the Combat Optic Tool that are designed to save you from stuffed pockets and bloated range bags.
Overview
The Patriot Products Combat Optic Tool is a multi-function range tool that is compact enough to be carried on a keychain. It is made from 316 stainless steel with a matte finish and features a handful of tools that you are probably already carrying seperately including a self adjusting 3/8″ / 10mm box end wrench, an Aimpoint Micro adjustment tool, a rounded flat tip driver, and a bottle opener. Its weighs 1 ounce and is 3 1/4″ long.
Observations from Use
Most of my rifles have Aimpoints or ACOGs mounted on them. Most of those optics are mounted in LaRue Tactical Mounts. That means that whenever I head to the range, I have multiple tools with me to adjust the zero on those optics and the tension on the mounts. At a minimum, those tools consist of a flat head screw driver (or something similar) and one of the box wrenches that LaRue Tactical includes with their mounts. Now, I can just tuck the Combat Optic Tool into my gear.
I especially appreciate the Combat Optic Tool when it is time to zero a micro Aimpoint. Aimpoint Micros have tiny turrets that require the use of the turrets caps to adjust. The caps are so small that they are a pain to fish out of your pockets or to keep installing and removing when you need to make an adjustment. The Combat Optic Tool lets me stow the caps in my range bag so they aren’t lost and make my adjustments with the tool instead. That sounds like a small thing but I find it to be extremely convenient.
The flat head driver on the Combat Optic Tool has a rounded shape which matches the dished shape of most slotted turrets better than a typical flat head screw driver. The curved shape also makes it possible to use on optics with smaller slots like the compact ACOGs.
The box end wrench is designed to self-adjust to a range of sizes that are typically found on QD optic mounts. It can be used on LaRue Tactical, GDI, and ADM mounts (though ADM mounts rarely require a wrench).
So far, I have used the Combat Optic Tool to:
- Adjust the zero of H1, T1, Comp M3, and Comp M4S Aimpoints
- Adjust the zero TA33 ACOG
- Adjust the tension on multiple LaRue Tactical mounts
- Adjust windage on various rear sights
- Remove the battery cap on Micro Aimpoints
- Start stubborn take down pins
- Adjust the pivot on a Zero Tolerance 0200 folding knife
- Pry staples out of target uprights
- Hang from an inner strand of paracord like a plumb bob for some quick and dirty scope leveling in the field
- Scrape my boots
- Other stuff that I don’t remember right now
Basically, this is the type of tool that you lets you improvise a bit. I have taken to carrying it with a Multitasker Series 2 and a selection of bits to match the fasteners on my gun. I can basically replace all the tools that I used to carry to the range with this combination.
Wrap Up
The Combat Optic Tool saves me time, space, and weight. It replaces multiple tools that I was already carrying. I consider it money well spent. In fact, I plan to order a couple more to stow in my range gear.
Check out the Patriot Products AZ Facebook Page.
Panteao Productions iOS App Now Available
I recently mentioned that Panteo Productions was working on an iOS app. Making their impressive library of training videos mobile seems like a logical next step and a tremendous tool for those who are serious about their training.
Check out the new Panteao Productions iOS App.
TacStrike Starts Christmas Early
Forget Halloween and Thanksgiving. TacStrike just declared that Christmas is coming early this year. They have marked down all of their steel targets through November 30th. Now is the perfect time to invest in a steel training target.
