Kevin Estela is a former History teacher and life-long outdoorsman, as well as an author, and talented educator. For me, Kevin was one of my earliest inspirations as a podcaster, and I couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to sit down with him. We dive into history and fieldcraft, his transition from public school educator to full time instructor, as well as the importance of mindset in your individual training journey. Kevin shared a lot in this conversation, including the three essential elements to achieving success: awareness, preparedness, and willingness. We talked at length about how those three characteristics together will lead you to the places you want to be, and how their absence can lead to failure. Further we talk firearms for wildlife encounters as well as self defense, and even got into a little bit of tactical shotgun. Absolutely, an outstanding and entertaining conversation, and I'm sincerely looking forward to connecting with Kevin again in the future.

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As long as we've been chasing self-improvement and trying to run a gun faster and more accurately, there have been men trying to develop ways and means in which to do so with less effort, and more quickly. Certainly at the top of that list is the handgun compensator. A device which when attached to the end of the barrel, vents the gasses in various directions, helping to mitigate felt recoil to the shooter, and muzzle rise. Having just jumped into this myself, I reached out to our good friend Jake from Herrington Arms, to talk about it. As a instructor, LEO, and competitive shooter, Jake has tens of thousands of rounds behind a plethora of different setups and compensators. We get into some of the testing and the science behind these devices, talk about lightweight triggers, reference plenty of the core principles of performance shooting, and also, at the very end, get a sneak peak at a new development from the team at Herrington. It's always good catching up with Jake, and I enjoyed getting to pick his brain for this one. Check it out!

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I think it's a safe statement to make, that we all are, or have at least at some point, struggled to understand the balance that exists between the three pillars of overall preparedness. Heck, at some points, I'm sure many of us didn't even realize that they existed. That's alright, it's part of the journey, and to a large degree, that journey never stops. You simply have many encounters along the way that shape your mission and your goals. While it can be confusing, once you're able to make sense of what you need to spend money on, what you need to spend time on, and what's actually worth spending your energy on, the picture does become a lot more clear. You can out run budget end tools and equipment with enough training, however no amount of high end kit will ever compensate enough to make up your training deficit. In the same token, neither of those things matter if your mind isn't right and you're pursuing these things for the wrong reasons. So lets talk about it.

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Chris Costa is a man who truly needs no introduction. His early work with Magpul Dynamics helped to inspire thousands of us to pick up the rifle and start training, and his continued influence on the community is at best, difficult to measure. This week, I have the opportunity to sit down with Chris, one of my earliest influences in training, and pick his brain. We started by getting into Chris' experience in the Coast Guard, traveling the world on Counter-Drug operations, how that led to not only his career in teaching but also what sparked his passion for performance shooting. Of course, this conversation wouldn't have been complete without talking about the fabled Magpul DVD series, and even got into talking about long range precision shooting, handgun work, and a lot more. This was a spectacular conversation, and one I hope to be repeat soon, in the near future.

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August is here, and we're two-thirds of the way through the year. For this iteration of the SITREP, rather than stepping into political news, or global developments, I have a update on our own training here in Michigan to share with you. Pulling together a diverse group from across our state, with backgrounds in Military, Law Enforcement, and obviously trained Civilians, we are fresh off our first "CQB Workshop" training session. This was a targeted exercise put together and planned to "pressure test" and validate the practices and procedures that we use in our own training, and find the gaps, and as a group, get better. In this episode I share a behind the scenes on the planning work, but also the rationale behind building the event so hopefully, you all can do the same.

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In 2025, let's be honest, there's threats that we face in our daily lives that we can realistically prepare for. However, in the same token, there's a limit to how far that preparation can carry us. From emerging technologies, geopolitical turmoil, to the potential for civil unrest growing seemingly by the day, there's a lot out there. Far more to account for than certainly any one of us can alone, and even in a group limits to what can be accomplished. In this discussion I do my best to shine a light on what truly "being prepared" means, and I don't even get to everything. My goal was to draw connections between our daily lives and concerns, the training interests which fuel many of our passions, and the real world threats that exist, which many of us miss, or have as a gap in our planning.

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While it's pretty well noted that I don't have a ton of knowledge or experience out in the wilderness or in the survival community, my guest this week, has more than enough to make up for what I lack. Craig Caudill is the owner and founder of Nature Reliance School, and has dedicated his life not only to teaching survival, bushcraft, and sustainment, but to continuously seeking out individuals who know more, and finding ways to learn new things in areas he's spent his whole life studying. This was a fascinating conversation for me, and we were able to get into all sorts of interesting topics from beginner courses of instruction, to advanced training, to escape and resisting human trafficking. Craig has done a lot, and has a lot to share. This is certainly a discussion tailored to those of you more comfortable in the woods, than in your own home.

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The Red Letter Project is a unique company that takes the traditional approaches we see to skills like firearms safety and proficiency, force on force training, and individual capability, and builds on them through personal focus, and faith based principles. Maddy Scholar is the owner and founder of The Red Letter Project, as well as a avid shooter, as well as a student of business and faith. We sit down in this discussion, starting with Maddy's story of what led her to such an impactful life mission, and spend a lot of time talking not only about the benefits of the training, but the importance of being an invested coach and educator, as well as constantly looking for ways to improve yourself so that you may more positive improve your students. I found this conversation to be very interesting, and was blown away by the work that Maddy and Red Letter are doing to change the world.

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The first major piece of legislation for the new Trump Administration has passed, and it's been dubbed "The Big Beautiful Bill" by many. For me, I think it's more cheeky to simply refer to it as the "T Triple B" for reasons only a few of you will understand (but shouldn't). In this bill, which numbers somewhere between 1,000 and 1,1000 pages approximately, are a number of very impactful changes to the country. Chief among those is the removal of the unconstitutional two hundred dollar tax attached to NFA items like suppressors and short-barrel rifles, as well as hefty budgets allotted to border security efforts. There's a lot to unpack, and as always I have a lot to say about several pieces of this and how I see it impacting normal American's, as well as the downstream impacts that they could trigger. While I usually try to stay away from the politics in our weekly episodes, I think this one is justified. Check it out, and like always, drop us a email, a message, or a comment and let me know what you're thinking!

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We're officially kicking off the second half of 2025 with the July SITREP! It's Fourth of July weekend, and with that, comes obviously the fantastic celebration by all Americans (mostly) of our fight as armed and well regulated civilians fighting for independence and to defeat tyranny. Now, in the last several decades, that notion does seem to have faded a bit over time, but it's an ideal that is uniquely American, and one that holds more value than many realize. I do my best to articulate my own thoughts and feelings around the holiday and why it's so important that we celebrate it now, and for many years to come. Additionally, we have terrible flooding in parts of Texas impacting thousands of families and once more, we as a community are called on for help and support. There's some information on who to reach out to as well as a brief update on the information that I've been able to gather over just these last few days. Hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday weekend, and God Bless America!

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