#fridayfundamentals
This is a different kind of Fundamentals; no marksmanship or skills with arms is involved. Synchronicity happened several times when I read this week’s Weekend Knowledge Dump. https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-november-13-2026
Earlier in the week, I become aware of the incident in which Amanda Colley and her friend, Lindy Dobbins. https://www.news4jax.com/news/2018/07/13/medical-examiner-testimony-james-colleys-wife-shot-9-times/ I’ve tried to find a link where their loathsome killer isn’t mentioned first with no luck.
Two links in WKD resonated with me about this incident. The first link was about getting shot.
What it’s like to get shot
https://www.survivalsullivan.com/how-it-feels-to-be-shot/
Three women were present during the murders. One was wounded and not killed.
“Hendricks said a shot fired through the closet door grazed her arm and felt ‘like a rug burn.’”
I found that to be an interesting analogy.
The second link concerned skills not taught.
Never Get Taken To A Second Location | Active Self Protection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho-VyzyiouE
Although the Colley incident didn’t involve being taken to a second crime scene, Greg’s comment “Over the years I’ve seen fewer and fewer instructors teaching the skill sets to avoid being taken to the second crime scene” made me think of something related.
When the Colley killer incident began his rampage, there were four innocent people in the house, one man and three women. When the killer started shooting from outside, the man immediately said “Run” and he ran. According to court testimony:
“He ran into the garage, rolled under the garage door and ran from the home. He wasn’t hurt and found someone a few streets away to call 911.”
In contrast, all three women hid in the house. Amanda hid in a bathroom. Lindy, the other fatality, and Rachel Hendricks, who survived, hid in a walk in closet.
“Colley put the handgun he was carrying up to [Lindy] Dobbins’ head, and that’s when Hendricks ran out of the closet and through the front door, looking for help.”
Both of the survivors RAN. One at the outset and the other when she had the opportunity to. Since most of our training is structured as ‘firing squad practice,’ running is not a survival skill we include. Years ago, when I taught my Advanced Concealed Carry Skills Course, one of the exercises was to run away to a specified safe point when the clients ran out of ammo during an extended decisional shooting exercise. They would run out of ammo at different times in the exercise and had to make a personal judgement call about when to run. Running away as an individual judgement call isn’t a skill often seen in firearms or self defense training.
The third resonant to me was Significant Advantages to the Revolver in Deep Concealment https://reflexhandgun.com/2021/11/02/a-significant-advantage-to-the-revolver-in-deep-concealment/
This article had a personal implication. As fond as I am of my Walther PPS, I have largely gone back to my 640-3 as my EDC. My reasons mostly align with the themes of the article.
I admit I have a probably excessive interest in deep concealment because of the amount of time I’ve spent in NPEs. Another aspect I’m influenced by is my desire to avoid a ‘Hindi Incident.’ Las Vegas Police officer Bob Hindi had occasion to quickly run out to the store late in the evening. Because it was so time sensitive, he didn’t take any of his personal protection equipment. Naturally, a robbery occurred while he was there. As he was struggling with the robber, he thought “I wish I’d brought my gun.” Fortunately, Bob fought the guy enough to force a Break In Contact https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2021/04/10/breaking-contact-part-i/, https://ccwsafe.com/resources/breaking-contact-pt-1/ and he wasn’t injured. Bob is a very squared away officer and ordinarily will never leave home without his gear but it took a few minutes to put on. He simply didn’t have time in this case.
The concept of having a tool I can quickly slip in my pants is very appealing to me as a result. I wouldn’t do a Clip Draw with a striker fired gun but I’m very comfortable using one with a double action revolver. Although I used a Barami Hip-Grip for decades, I became uncomfortable with it when I had my revolver slip out after a fall on ice. The Clip Draw seems a little more secure. How much so, I haven’t measured.
Another aspect of the 640-3 that I like is that it’s stainless and very visible when drawn. A Chicargo cop told me something a long time ago about stainless steel revolvers that I had never considered.
“Most of these nitwits are in a fog or can’t see very well. I want them to know I’m pointing a gun at them.”
I doubt optometry is high on the list of health care services considered essential by low-lifes and other undesirables.
A friend and I were discussing a few days ago what the most useful survival skill was. A point of agreement is that one of the most valuable skills is ‘emotional control.’ Within that broad category, I place ‘fear control’ as key. It’s another skill we don’t train on very well.
Fear Illusions: How Your Brain Gets Hacked Every Day
https://www.neilstrauss.com/neil/fear-illusions-and-the-brain/
Note that some of best literature about controlling fear comes from the swimming community. Fear of drowning is pretty high on everyone’s list.
In the past I’ve referenced many Army and other Service Field Manuals in my writing. Unfortunately, most of the official digital copies have now been removed from public access. No CAC card, no access. The Field Manual Vault is a good substitute resource.
Military Field Manuals
https://www.trex-arms.com/field-manual-vault
Colonel Max Radl spoke about Carl Jung and synchronicity.
“A very great thinker. A rational man And yet he speaks of something called synchronicity, events having a coincidence in time, creating the feeling that a deeper motivation is involved.”
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