Due to the generosity of Anthony, and my uber big mouth, I had the opportunity to take this course today. There were 6 5 students (RayRay wimped out). The morning began with a briefing/question and answer session and discussion about home defense plans, what we use, who the instructors were and what their background was, description and familiarity with the sims equipment, etc.

 

The sims equipment are modified Glocks which will only shoot sim projectiles. The sim projectiles are shot through a (albeit mildly) rifled barrel and are accurate (according to the manufacturer) to a 6" group at 25 yards. The casing is brass, with a primer and a sabot along with the sim 'pod' which contains a washable dye. The projectiles achieve approx 300 ft per second.

 

The weapons operate exactly EXACTLY like real weapons though the recoil is much less. The slides operate, the brass ejects and (magically) the magazines run out.

 

Each student was run through two simulations back to back. After the group ran sim #1 and sim #2, we were then run through another sim individually, and then finally one sim as a group. When you figure that each sim runs about 2-4 minutes, plus setup and prep time, let's say 8 minutes per sim * 5 students * 4 sims = 160 minutes. Once all of the sims were completed, we sat together as a group and watched the video of (nearly every) sim in order that we could get pointers from the instructors and so the other students could see mistakes made, successes, etc. The video is a hand held recorder operated by one of the other instructors who knows what to look for (finger in trigger, white knuckles, etc). Initially I thought that a permanently installed surveillance and recording system would be better but after seeing how much motion was necessary by the videographer just to capture what was going on, it's obvious that either a super high end system would be necessary, or the simple hand held camera. In this case, man beats automation.

 

Each of the sims for each of the students is different - even if the premise of the sim is the same, how the "home occupant" reacts would sometimes effect how the "perpetrator" acted which caused each student to have an individual experience. So, if for instance a drunk guy came in on me, he may react non-violently whereas with another "home occupant" the drunk might react violently. In addition, the instructors run various scenarios, some (ala Law and Order) ripped from the headlines.

 

Despite knowing that this was a training exercise, every bit of it felt 100% real. I never felt as if I were in a "game", that I could stand up and say "SAFE" or some code word to stop the exercise (though there's a mechanism for that). My point is that I treated this as if it were a real home defense scenario, and my body is cursing me for it now. By the way, I played paintball at the time period when paintball went from single shot, rack the slide to semiauto (ie the original Autococker). This ain't paintball boys. Not. Even. Close.

 

The sims hurt when they hit exposed things. I was hit in both hands, I wouldn't call it pleasant. There's a pain response for sure.

 

I thought that because I had seen the Popular Mechanics video ahead of time that I now could be prepared for what was to come, well, there's no preparation for the experience. I almost don't want to say any more about the course as I don't want to ruin any of it for anyone else. Some of the words used today were: intense, holy shyt, wow, OMG... you get the point. My adrenaline high is over and I'm feeling the side effects already. I feel now that I have a better understanding of what I would experience and how my body would react in the event of an invasion.

 

Instructors - top notch, the perpetrator was down right frightening at times. The review of appropriate tactics was helpful - especially with the video.

 

Take aways:

I need to review my home defense plan in its entirety and make certain adjustments. You learn really quick that you need to consider various scenarios in your home and plan where you would prefer to field a defense from, which locations are indefensible, which locations are vulnerable, etc.

 

Value - Oh yeah, in my cheap a$$ opinion, this course of fire is absolutely worth every bit of the fee charged.

Good review Dan. I spoke with Wombat about this class. I am very interested in it. I like the idea that everybody has a different experience.

Good write up, having been on the SIMs course in December your description is spot on. Just reinforces to me that going to a range is just one part of a broader training approach that is necessary if you want to be more prepared for a real situation.

 

TheWombat

Yeah, I wimped out. I was sick as a dog. I'll be there next Saturday for sure.

Thanks for the write-up Daniel.