New Look, easier class sign ups,one stop shopping

Click on the new 2012 Open Enrollment Classes tab on the left, It will take you to the new Grey Group site that is both easier to read, easier to sign up for classes and makes it a one stop shop. Once you get there and click "Details" or "Buy Tickets" you'll also notice a reviews section, what you need for the class, ammo counts and some of the gear I use all on the same page as my classes. There's no excuse now!!!! Hope to see you in 2012,

KD

Running week of Oct 28

Sun- 1:56, Merrell Trail Gloves. State park out and back. Perfect weather.

Mon- 1:43, Merrell Trail Gloves. Power line trail and half of river loop. Saw a bunch of turkey.

Tue- :57, Merrell Trail Gloves. Powerline trail out, forest service road back. Lots of deer, turkey. Legs heavy after previous two days.

Thu- 1:03, Merrell Trail Gloves. New route of a long way to forest service trail head, then powerline back and another addition on the end of a new trail I found. Saw 3 does and 2 turkeys.

Fri- 1:15, Vivo Neo Trails, powerline out, a bit of river loop to peninsula, back on peninsula.

6h 54m Total.

Gave the Trail gloves a decent chance this week, but I'm going with the Vivo Barefoot Neo Trails. The reasons are that the TGs aren't as comfy around the collar and they are not completely flat. They have a bit of a structured arch you can see when the shoe is on a flat surface. This causes me some slight calf soreness over long miles and really takes the Trail Glove out of the completely minimal shoe category in my opinion. The vivos are flat as can be and have no heel rise to speak of.

Zombies

Things you need;

Cardio
accuracy
lots of ammo

running this week

Mon- 1:09, river loop. Took slight (shortened) digress to town to see mechanic to set appt. Perfect weather. VivoBarefoot shoes (Aqua Lite).

Tue- :52, forest service road loop. Couldn't run all hills on backside. Unusually hot for mid Oct- 85. VivoBarefoot Neo Trails. 

Wed- :28, farmer's property run loop. Just a shakeout run . Vivo Neo Trails.

Thu- 1:02, power line trail loop. Perfect weather, saw a lot of deer.

Fri- 1:25, peninsula point, out and back. Perfect weather. Didn't make it all the way, probably 1-1.5 mi short, ran out of time. 

4 hr 56 min total

My main goal this week was to try and start to decide on a shoe. The Agua Lites are fine on smooth dirt or pavement but ANY pebble, rock, etc makes it miserable. The Neo Trails are good on both pavement and dirt- altogether a better shoe IMO.

I also wanted to establish some routes I can run frequently. That will be a work in progress of course, that will most likely result in the combining of some routes in the future.

Other than that, just wanted to try and get into a routine again. 

2012 Open Enrollment Class Schedule

Jan 21-22 – ADVANCE CARBINE – MYAKKA CITY, FL

Feb 11-12 – ADVANCE PISTOL - PARK CITY, KY

Mar 10-11 - ADVANCE PISTOL - COLLEGE STATION, TX

Apr 14-15 - ADVANCE CARBINE - WALLINGFORD, CT

May 26-27 - ADVANCE CARBINE – WATERMAN, IL

Jun 2-3 KYLE DEFOOR & TOM KIER - ADVANCED CC & EDGED WEAPONS INTEGRATION" - NORTH VERSAILLES, PA

Sep 22-23 - ADVANCED PISTOL - CHINO, CA

Oct 20-21 - ADVANCE CARBINE – FROSTPROOF, FL

Nov 10-11 – PISTOL/CARBINE - SOUTH HILL, VA

Dec 8-9 – PISTOL/CARBINE – SCOTTSDALE, AZ


To sign up for the above classes or if you have questions contact training@greygrouptraining.com to set up.

For 2 Day TRAC Class , The Warrior Leader. Motivational Speaking, and Custom Courses contact defoor@cox.net

TRAC class dates will be announced soon. Look for the first one in Spring 2012. It will be a special event with media sources covering the class and each student receiving some special gear when they arrive on site.

A Brief History of "tactical" Pants & Clothing

I told myself I'd write about tac pants and their origins 3 or 4 years ago after hearing and seeing, without fail, multiple times a year, people explain to others what this is, what that does, and where it came from. I, of course, have inside information working for Mission Ready Equipment. So here goes.



Royal Robbins at age 15. I guess someone forgot to tell him he needed high speed gear



Tactical (God I hate that word) pants came about from climbing pants that were originally made by Royal Robbins. For those non-climbers- Royal Robbins (yes, his real name) was one of the innovators, and best climbers of his generation (more on that later). For those that have been in this business long enough, and actually have some of the original Royal Robbins 5.11s, there is a significant difference between what 5.11s are now and what they were then.




Royal nowadays. Guarantee he'll smoke your ass on any climb right now.



The Strap Thing - I hate to burst every one's tactical dream, but it ain't got nothing to do with holsters, radios, or handcuffs. Royal originally intended it to be an accessory storage area for carabiners, runners, and small nuts (this is all climbing gear for the non-vertical still reading this).

Double Stitching "for my clip knife" - First off, folders are just broken fixed blades with a pin in them, I digress... but, no, The double stitching in the corner of the pockets came aboutDan Costa bought the 5.11 entity from Royal Robbins. So what's it for? Originally, it was for racking the slide when shooting one-handed- no shit. Since then though, the clip name rumor has run wild, and that's what you'll mostly find there.

Double stitched knees for kneeling position- No...how about so when your 3000ft up on El Cap after a couple days your pants don't have holes in them from scraping granite all day.

"Spare Magazine Pocket"- Sorry, wrong again. On the original RR's and the very first 5.11s that pocket was all on the right thigh. Wouldn't work very well for about 90% of the right handed population?

Slanted Rear Pockets for quickly stowing partial mags- Are you fucking kidding me? Again, big negative. The real reason for slanted pockets was so you could actually access them while wearing a climbing harness.

5.11 is a police code for...- Ehh,,,,no. In a big way, no. 5.11 was, at the time Royal invented the pants the highest grade (meaning toughest) for a climbing route using the Yosemite Decimal System. Nowadays the super climbers are knocking out 5.14s and 5.15s.

So how the hell did the shooting/tactical/gov/mil/LE world get these damn things?- Well, rumor has it that some Colorado FBI dudes wore them on the range and it spread to D.C. After that, more LE saw what the boys in blue were wearing (and it made sense, since they lasted so damn long) and followed suit. Then the rest was history. Dan Costa bought the 5.11 piece (pant design only ) from Royal and literally changed the clothing game for this industry. Everyone had to come up with some sort of tactical something just to keep up.

I personally find great humor in the fact that so many people don't know, or make up the history of this product. The reason is that alot of shooting types view the climbing types as hippies or liberals. Of course, some of the climbing types view the shooting types as far right, war mongers. In reality, they both have a lot in common, and the Special Ops community (myself included) are happily stuck right in the middle.

Can't talk about modern tactical clothing without mentioning two other names. And I whole heartedly promise you'd be a cold, wet, and miserable person if it weren't for these two cats;




Yvon Chouinard not only started Patagonia, but Black Diamond too.



Yvon Chouinard was a climbing partner of Royal Robbins (making sense yet?). What he did at first was make pitons for use in aid climbing. After he and his buddies saw the damage that hard placed pro causes, he started making removable nuts, and later cams. Both of these made it so that climbing was less abusive to the environment. From this company, originally called Chouinard Equipment Company later came Black Diamond.

As Royal was making some pants that would stand up to climbing, Yvon started to import, and manufacturer other tough, outdoor clothing. In fact, and I'm not kidding here, Yvon was the person who brought Ruby shirts to the U.S. from Great Britain. Of course this venture was to become the clothing company Patagonia. If you think Patty is all recycle this, recycle that, and nothing else, you'd be surprised to know that they have supplied ALL OF USSOCOM with base layers and fleece for years.




Doug Tompkins founded The North Face and later became one of the most prolific conservationists in the world.

Doug Tompkins founded The North Face. Chances are everyone reading this has something from TNF. Doug was a climbing and rafting partner of Royal Robbins, and Yvon Chouinard- if it ain't making sense yet, I can't help you. If you're old enough, and your lady is too, he also founded a little company called ESPIRIT.

So that's tac clothing 101.

Getting Ready

The task of running from A to B has always intrigued me. Something about being able to cover great distances under your own power is special. It is also simple, which always makes things more interesting. Using minimal gear is another way to make the occasion more meaningful. There is a difference between minimal and unprepared. Knowing this difference is experience. Experiences make us what we are. Some experiences make you appreciate the small things in life...or just life in general. Starting tomorrow, I'll document at the end of each week my running workup over the next 9 months in what will hopefully be a successful attempt at experiencing these things and bringing to life something else. Something that is the right thing to do. Details will emerge. Singular purpose now until then.

The Death of Fleece

That's my opinion anyway. I still see a need for a soft shell when abrasion or light precipitation is a factor. As for normal fleece nowadays though, simply not applicable anymore. The synthetics are just too good, too small, too light, and way warmer.


My go to mid layer now is the Dead Bird Atom LT. By itself it's good down to low 40s, combine it with a shell and a merino long sleeve and you're easily comfortable to around freezing.

Check out some of the best synthetic, insulated mid layers here

All of these jackets like the Atom pack up super small so I find myself taking them everywhere and especially on planes where space is a premium. I'm in the habit of shoving a nice beanie and pair of gloves in the pockets of the jacket so I'm a self-contained survival system. If you travel and work outdoors you know what a mess it can be when you get to a cold spot to work and the airline lost your luggage.

Parting with the cash for one of these is always a little scary because when you hold the jacket in the store it seems so delicate and almost not there. Trust me when I tell you that it is, it'll be the best investment in staying warm you can make, AND it'll work when completely wet.

2nd Passion/Break from Shooting

Mixing it up a bit, my second passion, motorcyles. I've been at it as long as I can remember, from little Hondas, through my sportbike phase (17-23), my chopper phase(24-34), and now the last few years and my present bike is a phase I guess I would call 'as light and stripped down and fast as possible but practical'? I'm two small pieces away from my "High Plains Drifter" being completed. The goal being a bike that is uber-comfortable, able to take curves at speed without dragging, and maintain 90mph for exteneded time....until then here's some good people that do some great things with bikes. Get out and ride...don't worry about what.