Friday, June 8, 2012

Meet Tamara

Some of you will read this and think I'm paranoid. Of course, you probably think I'm paranoid anyway because I carry a concealed pistol. Oh well.

Anywayz, earlier in the week an article was brought to my attention by Tamara Keel, the gunnie Patron Saint of Snark. After I read her post, I read that article, and then I read on a couple other blogs (whose names escape me at the moment, sorry gents) about how someone had tried to forcibly disarm them from behind.

All these posts got me to thinking, "What would I do in a situation like this?" After I thought about it some I consulted with my mother, who despite her age is a third-degree black belt in Shotokan karate. We both decided that the best course of action would be as follows:

  1. Grab my holster with my right hand to move the butt of the pistol against my body. This makes it difficult to remove the pistol from the holster since my waist is now in the way of the draw.
  2. If possible, use my elbow to lock the guy's arm. 
  3. With my left hand, draw a knife. 
  4. Rotate to my right. This will probably break my opponent's grip on my gun. Use momentum to power knife attack to opponent's face or neck. 
  5. Use whatever means necessary to remove opponent from my immediate area, allowing me to draw my pistol. 

A few practice sessions confirmed this. The only problem was that I had no fixed-blade knife I could draw and use with my weak hand. Therefore, like a proper girl, I went shopping for accessories.

I originally thought about getting a karambit of some kind, because they did exactly what I wanted and looked mean to boot. However, karambits are big, expensive, and (allegedly) useful only with specialized training. That's when someone -- I think it was guest contributor Jeff W. -- suggested I look into a Ka-Bar TDI.





Oh my, yes. This will do nicely: less expensive than a karambit, expressly designed for exactly what I want, and it's law-enforcement issue to boot. So I went ahead and ordered one.

Imagine my pleasant surprise, then, when my choice was blessed by none other than St. Tamara, who said "Kabar TDI is a fine knife, and specifically designed for defending gun grabs. Don't worry that it doesn't have any mystic woo-woo. ;)"

Well then. Not only did I make the right choice, but clearly this is some form of divine providence, as the woman who got me thinking about it approved of my decision. Obviously, my only course of action was to name the knife Tamara.


(My guns are boys because they are big and loud and, let's face it, phallic. But knives, swords -- anything sharp, really -- are girls. This is because while it's easy to make a boy go bang, females require skill and technique. Also, they'll cut you if you fuck with them.)


So this is Tamara, my new EDC knife:

Pointy!



And this is her with Oleg, my EDC pistol. Don't they make a lovely couple?

Black makes it more tactical.

Hopefully both Tam and Oleg will understand that naming my tools after them is meant as praise and not mockery. I have nothing but the deepest respect for them both.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Julie D'Aubigny

Even though its skill system is horribly clunky and every game I run seems destined (cursed?) to fall apart, I still have a deep and abiding love for the 7th Sea role-playing game. Much of these love is due to the fact that not only can the system adequately model a person like Julie D'Aubigny, but she would also make a perfectly viable player character concept or a splendidly frustrating recurring NPC foil.

This happens, like, every other game session in 7th Sea. 

Julie D'Aubigny was a 17th-century bisexual French opera singer and fencing master who killed or wounded at least ten men in life-or-death duels, performed nightly shows on the biggest and most highly-respected opera stage in the world, and once took the Holy Orders just so that she could sneak into a convent and bang a nun. If nothing in that sentence at least marginally interests you, I have no idea why you're visiting this website.

Go read the rest of the article, it's amazing.

What I find remarkable is that, despite all of her promiscuity, she apparently never had any children. While some may point to this as evidence of contraceptives or herbal abortificants, I prefer to think that she was so badass that no merely mortal sperm could penetrate her eggs to fertilize them. It would take someone like Superman, or at least Sean Connery, to impregnate her.

On the other hand, it is a bit of a pity that she never had heirs, because how awesome would it be to have her as an ancestress?

But perhaps they could exist in the realm of myth and legend. After all, doesn't this title seem perfectly plausible?

"And here is the story of how I impregnated Julie d'Aubigny,"  by Baron von Münchhausen.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Quack

If it LOLs like a duck...


Monday Gunday: Oleg at 25 feet

I had completely forgotten that there was an indoor pistol range in Daytona. As soon as I realized that, I grabbed my pistol and my holster and my CWP and I hightailed it over there.

Oh yeah, did I mention that?  My Concealed Weapons Permit* arrived last week! So now that I can legally carry and I have my spiffy new holster for carrying, I figured it was time to see how good I was at engagement range (25 feet or less) and make sure that my Crimson Trace Lasergrip was properly sighted in.

How did I do? Well, I achieved about a 95% hit ratio, and you can see that most of those are in nice juicy Important Organ Areas. I even got a bit cocky and started trying for headshots (note to self: get better before you try head-hunting).



So yes, I'd say I am quite proficient with my defensive sidearm at most engagement ranges. Next time, I'll try shooting at 50 feet and see how well I do.

Pew pew pew. 




*Sadly, NOT signed by Charles Bronson

Friday, June 1, 2012

More sexy photos of my pony holster

I received my holster yesterday, quite securely packaged. I mean that literally -- it was in a bag, inside a box, inside another box, and secured with enough tape that I needed a lightsaber to cut it open. I told Mike that my postal carriers were rough and that I didn't want Luna getting scuffed, but this was epic-level packing.

It's this level of attention to customer detail that sets Michael's Custom Holsters above and beyond other companies. The specifications I laid out for this guy were so demanding that I felt like I was Count Rugen to his Domingo Montoya. My holster had to, among other things:
  • Fit both inside the waistband for concealed carry, but also fit on a belt for open carry
  • Be comfortable during hot & sticky Florida summers
  • Allow me to wear and draw from a car seat
  • Work with sweatpants, since I wear them a lot at home
  • Look pretty but not be especially frou-frou girly
  • Be tough so that the design wouldn't rub off from being inside jeans
  • Oh, and it had to have this picture on it:

Now I realize many of you are saying "Oh god, why did you have to put a My Little Pony on it?" and my answer is "Because fuck you, that's why."  I like ponies, I wanted on my holster, and now I have one.

Plus, Luna has twin TAR-21s and crazy eyes. That's just awesome.

Anyway, I'd like to state that this holster is amazing. Michael did an incredible job of fulfilling my impossible and sometimes contradictory demands. He kept me apprised of the project's progress every step of the way, asking me how I liked it, and letting me make suggestions. I thought for sure I was going to be his most annoying customer when his first dye job ended up a little too pink for my tastes. I wasn't happy with it but I didn't feel right saying "Nope, hate it, start over."

Guess what? He decided that he didn't like it, either, and started over anyway. And the second time around it came out looking incredible.

More sexy photos like this can be found here

You guys, not only is this holster beautiful, it is incredibly comfortable, both IWB and OWB. It holds my pistol securely yet allows for a smooth draw. It does exactly what I want it to do and the only way it could possibly be better would require violating the laws of 3-dimensional physics.

I know the resolution isn't as good. His camera is professional, and mine isn't. 

Oh, and did I mention that this holster is guaranteed for life? Because it is.

In conclusion, I wholeheartedly endorse Michael's Custom Holsters. His quality, attention to detail, and level of customer service are all top notch. I encourage all gunnies to buy a holster from him, and hasten to point out to my fellow Bronies that he does non-holster leatherwork as well. (Also, he and his wife are fans of the show as well, so we'd be supporting members of the herd.)


Why are you still here? Go! Buy leather goods!

I'll just leave this here

'k? 


The Fine Print


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