TheWombat

In case anyone here is planning on driving into or towards NYC at present be aware that you must have 3 occupants in your car otherwise you'll be turned back. I am not sure if this was the only reason why Route 3 Eastbound was backed up way to the West of Secaucus but it probably was a significant factor. What should have been a 25 minute commute for colleagues from Montclair to Secaucus ended up being 2 hours. I'd recommend people stay of the roads and work from home where they are able to until the situation stabilizes, fuel becomes more available and the traffic constraints a removed. Appreciate this may not be an option for many people. TheWombat

NEWARK — Two teenage sisters died in Newark tonight, apparently poisoned by carbon monoxide from a generator kept too close to a window, authorities said. "There was a generator outside of the apartment under an open window," Newark Police Director Samuel Demaio said, that appeared to kill two sisters, 18 and 19, near the 200 block of Riverside Court. The 19-year-old was identified as Kenya Barber by a relative at the scene. Demaio said if a generator is too close to a window, the differing temperatures cause a vacuum and will suck the invisible, odorless carbon monoxide inside..... www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/2_sisters_die_newark_carbon_mo.html If you are using a generator please be careful, as you can see above it can still be an issue being placed outside the house if it is near a window. I am assuming the window was open or had a vent which is part of what caused the issue. TheWombat

Attorney General: No reports of looting in N.J. after Sandy, additional security in place http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/attorney_general_no_reports_of.html WEST TRENTON — State Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said this evening there have been no reports of looting in New Jersey, but plans are in place – including additional security in some towns – to prevent crime as a result of Hurricane Sandy. “We have been in contact with all the county prosecutors to make sure they have the resources they need from us,” Chiesa said at a news conference with Gov. Chris Christie at the State Police Regional Operations Intelligence Center. “We’re helping tonight in certain counties where they are worried about securing some of the towns,” Chiesa said. The attorney general said the presence of the National Guard in some places was also providing communities with additional eyes to keep watch on store fronts and other sensitive locations that remain closed because they do not have power. “We’ll continue to monitor it,” Chiesa said. Earlier in the day, Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd said some people broke into a convenience store because they ran out of food. Police officers who were trapped at the height of the storm also broke into an A&P for food and shelter, according to Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy. Maybe it is just the timing of the article - as there are other articles on NJ.com stating looting is happening at a number of places in broad daylight. Sad to see that even in these difficult times when people need to pull together, we're seeing some individuals take advantage of the situation and others. TheWombat

Overall our preparations worked out ok. Cash, batteries, glow sticks, food and water all prepared and car was fueled up on Sunday. I found the iPhone 5 (LTE) worked fine when we lost cable however the iPad (3G) was pretty slow - presumably due to everyone else in the locale also using 3G for data etc. I've just ordered one of the crank-handle radios so we can also listen to what is going on for news updates and also some more 'white' glow sticks. TheWombat

I thought the largest refinery in NE was fine. I think we'll see some short term shortages for a few days then most locations should be ok. Just my personal view as I have no additional information. The gas stations on route 3 near Secaucus have short queues and some pumps were empty, I think the situation in other towns will be much worse before it gets better. TheWombat

LOL - probably true - but malfunctions happen and you tagged me - such is life! :-) TheWombat

I should also add that the full day GFH classes are good value - most of the GFH classes are half days and while the instructors/content are good I'd rather have that full day from my personal viewpoint. I've discussed with Anthony/Joe about whether we can have more 1 or 2 day classes and the challenge is that few students are able/willing to make that commitment of time - perhaps not helped by New Jersey not having as much of an active firearms culture as other States. For example I'd like to see a 2 day Advanced class - with the same group of students throughout - that covers something like: Day 1: Urban Pistol 3 during the day Low Light 2 at Night Day 2: 1/2 day of additional Urban Pistol 3 during the day 1/2 day of Simmunitions 3 and 'Simmunitions Low Light edition' using the techniques from Day 1 & 2 in force on force scenarios. (this could be the whole day instead of the additional UP3 in the morning) There was a Low Light 1 class being held yesterday evening at GFH South - i.e. after the Urban Pistol 3 - however it is a separate class. hth TheWombat

In UrbanPistol 2 you are typically undertaking drills as an individual, e.g. lying on the floor, drawing from holster, drawing from holster while seated, moving and shooting etc - so I'd describe this as you're more likely to harm yourself than anyone else if you don't keep to the rules of firearms e.g. finger of trigger except when ready to shoot, sights aligned and knowing what's behind the target etc. In UrbanPistol 3 the drills are often taken paired with another student where you are moving around each other; e.g. you could be moving between barricades as a team, undertaking basic room clearing, moving around and between each other. This means that you need to really focus on muzzle location/position and trigger finger and communicating to your fellow student. I was paired with Mike - so we had an Irishman and a Englishman/Australian working together - just goes to show that world peace is possible :-) At all times I felt safe working with Mike and we communicated and worked well as a team. Part of the goal of Urban Pistol 3 is to help you become more comfortable with having a firearm in the open - and in use - around other people as this is likely to be the reality of a situation - whether it is as a husband-wife team, or father-son, or some other situation. Next time I expect MrsWombat will come along as it is good training to do as a couple. The instructors ensure the training remains safe and at no time are you shooting down-range with other people in your field of fire - so it is NOT like one of the other training schools that has a YouTube video with one group of students standing between targets while another group shoots at the targets! I won't spoil the surprise of the CatchUp drill other than to say it is a mix of accuracy, speed, weak handed and strong handed shooting from various positions where you are 'competing' against the other students. To find out more you'll need to go to Urban Pistol 3 :-) The majority of the class contains drills/training that cannot easily be repeated at a normal indoor range trip - so unless you are lucky enough to have your own land or a local range that has shooting pits that allows greater flexibility then this really is one of the few ways to improve skills that are more likely to be used in a real scenario rather than hitting a static paper target, from a static standing position - hence one of the reasons I like the Urban Pistol and other similar classes. hth TheWombat

Back in late April I attended the GunForHire Urban Pistol 3 class at the GFH Area 51 location. You can see my previous review where I used my Walther PPS 9mm here: http://njgunforums.c...post__p__472642 Today I headed down to the Winslow location to retake the Urban Pistol 3 class. As I have recently started competing in IDPA I decided to use my Sig P226 9mm (USPSA sub-model) rather than the Walther PPQ or PPS. We had a mix of students, about 13 in all as we had some cancellations due to the forthcoming storm. As per last time there was a mix of firearms including 2 Berettas, my Sig P226, an M&P, a CZ and a few Glocks with calibers of 9mm, .40S&W and .45ACP. I had a few failures to feed and double feeds with the Aguila 124gr 9mm (495 rounds shot in total) which was disappointing however this gives real practice at clearing malfunctions on the move. I then switched to my standard Speer Lawman 124gr 9mm and had no further issues (although this was only 186 rounds) There were enough differences from the prior Urban Pistol 3 to ensure that the class remained interesting and new even for the repeat students. Previously we started with dot drills, this time we instead used different targets to the usual GFH targets and had timed drills of shooting 10 shots in 10 seconds at 10 yards; followed by 10 shots in 10 seconds at 7 yards, and finally 10 shots in 5 seconds at 5 yards - all from drawing from the holster. This drill quickly highlighted any issues with trigger control, trigger reset and sight picture which we then focused on before return back to the 10/10/10 drills where the students typically saw noticeable improvements. Following the above 'warm up' we moved through a variety of standard Urban Pistol (UP) drills, although pushed to the next level, e.g. for the barricades you had to switch between strong and weak handed shooting, there was shooting on the move, the famous UP3 'Catch Up' drill which was run a few times; and then more of an obstacle course which included crawling through a giant 'barrel' and shooting followed by some scenarios in and around a vehicle. We finished the day by setting up and clearing a shoot house which demonstrated the need for pieing, working angles, identifying the targets, being aware of your surroundings etc. A number of these exercises were undertaken paired with another student which changes the approach significantly. Compared to the previous UP3 the key differences were: Winslow rather than Area 51 - Winslow is a better location however an extra 80-90 minutes drive for me The warm up Dot Drills were different as this time we had 10 shots at a variety of distances/times - I preferred this as isn't something you can typically practise at a normal indoor range. More use of Steel for shooting - I like Steel so this is another positive The 'obstacle course' - not really sure what to call this however last time we never had to crawl through large 'barrels' and shoot. The shoot house - this was fun! This time around we didn't try shooting at 60 yards and didn't do the figure 8 drills. While Urban Pistol 3 continues to drill in on the fundamentals, you are moving and shooting in much closer proximity to other students which changes the dynamics. Compared to my last run through of UP3 back in late April I noticed a clear improvement in my accuracy and overall shooting, particularly in the Catch Up drill where Joe (Instructor) tried twice to follow and catch me and FAILED!!!!!!!!!!! One big positive about the GunForHire classes is you can retake any class as an Alumni which gives a 50% discount, so for $125 I received a full day of training. In total I shot 681 rounds and had a great day. I should also add it was good to see IrishPete and IrishPete'sWife again, in addition to meeting some others from NJGunForums and other fellow shooting enthusiasts from NJ/NY. Well worth attending! TheWombat

Urban Carbine 1 class reviews on the forum http://njgunforums.c...rban-carbine-1/ Urban Pistol 1 class reviews on the forum http://njgunforums.c...2-class-review/ http://njgunforums.c...istol-1-review/ I've not undertaken Urban Carbine - however have done UP1 (see link above for my review). I would suggest bringing: 400 rounds of ammunition (you may not use it all, however in my experience depending on the class you sometimes are using more than they recommend to bring - also depends on your magazine size) Good Kydex OWB holster - absolutely practice drawing from the holster (and reholstering) with an EMPTY firearm before you go to the class as it will make things easier. IIRC for UP1 you may be able to go without a holster - however better to have the holster if possible. Good gun belt - i.e. don't just use a standard belt - while you can, the extra rigidity of a gun belt makes a big difference in stabilizing things. 2-4 magazine pouches. While you only need 3 magazines, if you have more then bring them. Joe (instructor) used to have people load 10 rounds into each magazine (if they fit 10 rounds) however more recently he has been saying just load them to capacity as some students have got a little confused - hence my comment about bringing the higher count of ammunition just in case. If you have more magazines it gives you more flexibility on when to reload the mags etc. Earplugs and Earmuffs - you're shooting inside - some people are more sensitive to noise so best to have both in case you want to 'double up' Magazine Loader (optional) - these can save time and wear/tear on your thumb - many of us think they are great. Different brands available e.g. http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B001HBHNHE Hat & Shooting Glasses Ensure you firearm has been cleaned/lubed. While having some malfunctions in the class can be a useful exercise in reinforcing what they are teaching (e.g. how to clear malfunctions) you don't want to spend the entire class clearing malfunctions rather than focusing on what they are teaching. Use something like a Silver Sharpie pen and number the bottom of your magazines. This is for two reasons a) so if you have any malfunctions you can more easily see if it is consistently with one magazine and b) so you recognize which magazines are your when you are doing group exercises and dropping your mags on the floor. Particularly if shooting a more common firearm such as a glock. Be prepared to listen, ask questions, and focus on your fundamentals. If you get sight picture and trigger control right - much of the rest just flows more easily. There is a slight chance I might go to UP1 and try and work through the class shooting weak hand. Will see. hth TheWombat

In August I took a 1:1 training session with Chuck @ GunForHire and posted my review, which was overwhelmingly a positive experience, here I decided to go for a follow up 1:1 session yesterday evening to help focus on some of the development areas from my first 3 IDPA competitions and also to undertake some training that can't be done at the standard range. Once again, for continuity, Chuck was my instructor. I had emailed some specific areas I wanted to focus on and Chuck created a session around those. During the 3 hours: 1) Chuck reviewed 5 videos from my IDPA competitions and was able to ascertain some of the fundamentals that needed to be worked upon. 2) We then moved to the F.A.T.S simulation and they ran me through around 10 or so scenarios. They supplied me with a Sig P229 F.A.T.S firearm as I am currently using my Sig rather than the Walther. If you've never tried F.A.T.S then I can say it is very humbling in showing exactly where you are aiming and quickly highlights any trigger and sight picture issues. After each scenario Chuck would play back the scenario with my muzzle/shots overlaid and then explain what went well and where I needed to focus more on my fundamentals. As I focused on the fundamentals the results improved. 3) We then moved to the range, having the full 25yds x 25yds open space to ourselves. Chuck set up some cones, barricades and targets and then told me to start sprinting from side to side across the width of the range.. WTF!!!! I didn't realize I'd get a fitness workout included :-) Joe was nice enough to come and sprint alongside me and show me that I'm getting old! After 3-4 widths of sprinting, Chuck would call out a position and instructions, e.g. left cone, 2 and 4, kneeling; move to right barricade, pelvis shot; etc The above sprint->firing scenario was repeated 15 or so times; before we moved on to something different. Once again throughout the ~2 hours on the range Chuck focused on my fundamentals - trigger control, sight picture, upper body position. The purpose of this was to force me to focus through the adrenaline, oxygen starvation and ensure I still hit my targets. As a technique it worked well and by the end of the session I was mentally drained from the level of focus I was needing to apply. Excluding the F.A.T.S I shot 550 rounds live fire. The session was set up so I reached the point of diminishing returns at the session end. I've kept the summary above very high level - suffice to say there were other tricks that Chuck (and Joe when he was being "helpful") incorporated to ensure I had to think through malfunctions and other items. This is by far the best Training Session to date. I got home exhausted - physically and mentally, however I learnt far more than I had expected. The big positive with continuing the sessions with Chuck and Gun For Hire is that both the single and group sessions continue to build on each other since both Chuck and Joe know my level of experience and developmental areas well by now. Thanks to Chuck & Gun For Hire - summay take away is .. focus on the shooting fundamentals! TheWombat

It gives you time to research the perfect gun for yourself, and probably change your mind 20+ times, albeit that is definitely not great news. :-( I've just had my 1 year anniversary of exercising my 2nd Amendment rights and was lucky enough to live in a township where the FID/PP process keeps to the ~4 weeks and the Detective in charge is A+. I researched the following as I was waiting for my FID and looked at weight, width, length, trigger/firing mechanism etc and added it to a spreadsheet. I test fired those that made it to a short list. This was my approach and some firearms, while good, didn't make it even onto this larger list e.g. Beretta 92 series as I had already shot and disliked. I had also previously shot an M&P and not been wowed, although I am reconsidering M&P as a potential next buy now. 1911 9mm (of some sort) Beretta Px4 Storm Browning HiPower 9mm CZ 2075 Rami - double stack CZ 75 Shadow T CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow Custom CZ P-07 Duty CZ SP-01 Phantom (polymer) Ed Brown Kobra Carry Lightweight FN Herstal FNP-9 FNH FNX-9 Glock 17 Glock 19 - double stack Glock 34 H&K 45 LEM (no decocker/safety v7) H&K 45c LEM (no decocker/safety v7) HK P30 HK P7 HK USP HK USPc HK45 Kimber Custom Aegis II Kimber/SIG 1911 .45ACP Magnum Research IWI Baby Desert Eagle (9mm) Ruger P9 S&W M&P9c SA EMP SA XD SA XD9 sub compact 3" SA XDm 3.8" SA XDm 3.8" Compact SA XDM 5.25 SIG 1911 9mm Sig P226 USPSA Sig P228 - double stack Sig P229 SAS Gen 2 - double stack, no rail, SRT Sig P239 - single stack Sig P250 Sig P250 compact Sig P250 sub compact Sig P6 or P225 Sig Pro 2022 Springfield Armory Loaded STI 1911 Ranger II 9mm STI 1911 Spartan 9mm STI 1911 Trojan 9mm Walter PPQ Walther P99 Walther PPQ Walther PPS I ended up buying the Sig P226 as my first firearm and use it extensively, I am also a fan of the Walther PPQ and PPS albeit I would recommend new shooters go for the Glock and/or M&P instead due to availability of accessories and more consistent controls such as the Mag release. good luck TheWombat

An update in case anyone comes across this thread in the future. I bought the Maxpedition Cocoon Pouch (8" internal length) and it works well with the Sig P226 slide. Anything longer than the Sig P226 slide won't fit in - if you need something larger than there is the Maxpedition R-10 Razorshell which is an additional 2 inches longer (10" in total internal length). Photos of the Cocoon hth TheWombat

I've just had to cancel due to other commitments - hopefully should mean there is one slot coming free again. Enjoy! TheWombat

I had many good experiences at Shore Shot and found the staff to be friendly and helpful. Only reason I switched to RTSP is that it is 20+ miles and 20+ minutes closer to where I live. TheWombat

See the EMP post which I started and also one about SA customer service for more details. The quick summary is that the EMP was unable to consistently feed Hollow Points, also tried several brands. They fixed it free of charge and since then it has fed all HPs. Overall a very positive experience. TheWombat

I recently sent an EMP to Springfield Armory using Fedex. Was straightforward to do - SA sent me a Fedex shipping label which made it even easier. The EMP was returned back to my home address by Fedex. TheWombat

Any product will have fans, whether it is camaro vs mustang, bmw vs mercedes, android vs ios, M&P vs Glock, Sig vs H&K, Obama vs Romney, ... Now back to phones, it doesn't matter which is better and much of the judgement is subjective and/or personal preference. For me the iPhone/iPad combination meets my needs and I have little interest in Android Phones. Not because they are inferior in any way, or the iPhone is better - I just don't have any interest. I haven't found an Android phone and tablet set of products that MrsWombat is interested in. For the way I use the phone I don't need upgradeable memory. Battery life is sufficient for my usage habits and I have no issue with a headphone jack on the bottom. I don't believe iPhones is a poor product, just like I don't believe some of the Android phones are poor products. Each to there own - whether they are apple fanboys, android fanboys, or indifferent and just happy with the phone they have. iTunes is disliked by many, I guess that's why they are releasing a significant new version this month Enjoy the Galaxy, I'm happy with my 'inferior' iPhone. Isn't choice a great thing! TheWombat

Used the iPhone 5 to navigate me to Phillipsburg IDPA today - worked fine and had Pandora playing in the background. Even used Siri to phone MrsWombat and all worked fine. The new plug/connector is a big step forward compared to the old one, just a pain for people who have invested a lot in the previous connector/plug. Considering its been the same connector for 9 years then I'm not really too annoyed. I'll get a couple of new cables and will be fine. TheWombat

Surefire Fury is good - 500 lumen. 4 different versions depending on what you are after TheWombat

Thank you! TheWombat

I'm looking for a case for putting the slide from my Sig P226 in when I go to/from the range as I have a 9mm and the .22 conversion kit. I don't want to bring the fairly large container that the .22 conversion kit originally came in as the magazines are in my range bag. I've Googled and looked on MidwayUSA and don't seem to be able to find anything. Any suggestions? TheWombat

We decided it was easier and there were enough benefits of having the same make of phone. With Apple it means we buy an application/game once and we can then have it on each of our iOS devices, also allows us to use iMessage for free, FaceTime, same charger & accessories etc. Even more benefits as well when you add the iPad and/or iPad mini into the mix. I almost went the Nokia 920 for me and the iPhone 5 for MrsWombat TheWombat

A few of the other shooters at RTSP have also commented on the post-it note approach, maybe we're starting a new trend! My latest drills I've added are (at the buzzer): Switching hands 1) Draw firearm from holster 2) put 2 shots (2 handed strong side) into blue post-it note 3) Switch grip to 2 handed weak side (i.e. pulling trigger with weak hand) 4) Put 2 shots into red post-it note 5) Switch grip to 2 handed strong side (i.e. pulling trigger with strong hand) 6) return back to 2) or re-holster. I typically put 3-6 blue and red post-it notes up. This makes it easier to see how accurate the shots are between each transition. Strong Hand, Weak Hand For this one I use a mix of the 3" square and 1 7/8" square post-it notes. 1) Draw firearm from holster 2) put 2 shots (1 handed strong side) into 1 7/8" square post-it note 3) transition to one handed weak side 4) put 2 shots (1 handed weak side) into 3" square post-it note 5) repeat etc I then use a variations of all the above and earlier drills but also mix up the number of shots so it is not always the same 2 shots etc. I've noticed significant improvement and am now doing the drills at 10 yards (earlier it was 7 yards). As I demonstrate consistent accuracy and improved speed at 10 yards, I will move to 15 yards etc. TheWombat

Went to RTSP yesterday and decided to try the iPhone 5 Navigation for the return journey to see how it went. Was interesting... a) I asked Siri to 'take me home' b) the route taken by the iPhone was better than the standard 3 routes suggested by my car's inbuilt sat-nav c) on a couple of the traffic lights on Route 10 the navigation thought I had turned of route 10 when all I had done was stop at the red light, hence it then told me to turn right to join Route 10. When the lights turned green and I headed forward/straight it quickly realized I was already on Route 10. d) the only major issue was that it requested I take Exit 44 instead of Exit 43 from route 80. Exit 43 had been closed due to an earlier accident however I wasn't sure if the iPhone had taken that into account or was just misguiding me. (see e. below - it looks like the Apple Navigation was aware of the junction closure and hence routed me on an alternative exit) e) repeated the same journey today and it correctly took me home via Exit 43 - so I assume that the navigation is aware of road/junction closures which is pretty cool as the accident had only occurred less than an hour earlier. The interface is clean without a lot of clutter. I am happy not having additional information such as ETA, speed etc taking up the valuable space - however it would be good if Siri said the anticipated journey time/distance at the beginning when starting the route. A small compass on the top left corner would also be useful. On one of the roads (I think it was I80 although would have to recheck, the navigation correctly asked me to turn of the road however didn't say the junction number. I assume this is a map data issue that will get fixed soon enough - it is not a limitation of the iPhone/iMaps as on other roads it has correctly spoken the exit junction number. TheWombat