PDA

View Full Version : AAR: Talon Defense Low Light Handgun.



Eli
11-03-2013, 11:04 PM
I recently attended a Low Light Handguns class with Talon Defense/Chase Jenkins. This is the second Training Class that I've attended, the first was also with TD/Chase ( http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?9010-AARish-My-first-training-class-Talon-Defense ), as with the first class, I was blown away with the instruction and material presented during the course.

As I've stated on here before, I carry a handheld and a WML everyday, it stands to reason then that I should probably learn how to use the darn things. I think I walked away from the class with a MUCH better understanding of how to properly use them both.

The class started with about an hour of classroom time, going over safety, mindset, gear selection, safety, what the course would entail, and safety. I really like the stressing of safe gun handling skills, like a said this is only my second class and I haven't shot around enough other people to get over the feeling of "I know I'm safe, but I'm not sure about these other guys".......needless to say, getting shot during a training course would probably ruin my whole damn week. Chase's insistence on safety above all else is definitely a positive in my book. After watching videos on youtube and reading stories online about unsafe instructors I was a little concerned about training with a bunch of other students. After taking two classes with him, Chase has definitely laid those fears/concerns to rest.

Once out on the range we did some basic fundamentals drills, slowly working in the addition of holding the light in different positions. One thing that I thought was pretty cool, I've always heard people talking about "THE" way you hold a light while firing a pistol, Chase taught us several different ways, and explained when/why each one would be used. After each different drill all of the students were asked what they had taken away from it, and if they had any questions or concerns, they were promptly and effectively answered. We then progressed to the more fun stuff, weapons manipulation (other than just shooting) with the light in different positions, drawing the weapon and light at the same time, and of course, clearing malfunctions while manipulating the light.

By this time it was starting to get dark enough that we were no longer "learning/practicing" how to use the light to do all of this stuff, and actually USING the light to do all of this stuff. I'm sure a lot of you already know this, but clearing a malfunction when you can't see what's going on, is a whole different animal. As Chase said, "If you want two entirely different classes, teach the same thing twice, once in daylight and once in the dark."

Coming to this class, I fully expected for my handheld light to stay clipped to my pocket about 90% of the time, only coming out if for some reason my WML went down, or to simulate such. Instead the handheld was used in conjunction with the WML on every drill. The explanation made so much sense that I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't figure it out on my own. That whole "Keep your gun on the guy you just shot in case he decides that he wasn't shot enough.....and use your eyeballs to look for his buddies" thing, well, you also have to do that in the dark. Multiple small things like that, that I either never thought of or simply had incorrect, were made clear. Chase is an extremely personable guy and an excellent (IMO) teacher. No matter what the question he answered the how, and more importantly, the why and then gave examples of other things that might work better for different people in different situations, and things that might not.

Without a doubt, the coolest "gun thing" that I've ever done, was getting to put these tactics to use in a (smallish) shoot-house at the end of the night. While I am firmly in the "barricade and call the cops" camp, I do realize that there are certain extreme circumstances in which you might have to clear your house by yourself. My very limited class time in the house obviously doesn't mean that I "know" how to clear a house, but I did learn some basics of how to do it a lot more safely than I would've be for the class. I learned things such as, think the problem through, I was amazed at how even under such a small amount of stress common sense just went right out the window. Taking a step back, taking a deep breath, and actually thinking about the situation makes a world of difference.

(All photos courtesy of Chase Jenkins.)
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee95/ceelfi/talonlowlight4.jpg

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee95/ceelfi/talonlowlight5.jpg

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee95/ceelfi/talonlowlight2.jpg

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee95/ceelfi/talonlowlight.jpg

*A few hardware thoughts that I came away with. I need a different holster, one that no one currently makes, I'll have to figure something out with that.
*Brighter is better, my WML is a 200 lumen Inforce APL witch worked fine, but my handheld is an older incandescent Surefire E2E......it was practically dark before I could even see it on the target.
*"Washout" with a WML isn't really a big deal, we shined one of the new 1000 lumen Surefires at a solid white wall from about 6 feet away, and while there was obviously an effect to our eyes, it was no more severe than with my 200 lumen WML or some of the 200 lumen handhelds used in the class.
*DG switches actually make pretty good sense in a real world setting. I'm still not going to swap my APL for something with a switch, but I'm no longer "Anti-DG."

If you are interested in going to a top notch class for an extremely good price, you really owe it to yourself to check out Talon Defense/Chase Jenkins. I really can't recommend them enough. They don't have a website up yet, but if you click on the "Events" tab on their FB page you can check out their upcoming classes.

https://www.facebook.com/TalonDefense.org/events

Jason F
11-03-2013, 11:28 PM
Eli-

Thanks for the AAR!

I was supposed to attend (with three buddies), but a literal comedy of errors (including a broken arm/wrist on one of my buddies) kept us all from being able to attend this unfortunately.

I'm glad you learned a lot. I'm hopeful to take another class with Talon Defense soon.

(I wanted to take the Dark Gunfighter course next month, but I'll be traveling for business... again. dang it!)

Eli
11-03-2013, 11:31 PM
I probably won't be able to make it to any more this year (school), but I definitely intend on taking more with them in the future. In the two classes that I've been to with Chase, I've learned more than I have in the last 10 years that I've been shooting by myself.