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jetfire
03-30-2011, 05:14 PM
Tally as of 26-Apr-11: 37 points

I am very pleased to announce that as of this week, we've begun production on Gun Nuts Media's newest project, the web-series Down Zero TV. Down Zero TV draws its name from a perfect points score on an IDPA stage, and in addition to bringing tips, tricks, and stage breakdowns will also chronicle the host's efforts to shoot a major IDPA match down zero points. Sponsors include Sig Sauer, Blackhawk, Cheaper than Dirt, Insights Training Center and many others!

Of course, it's not always "serious business" when the camera's rolling; here's a bit of b-roll taken at Todd's recent Speed Kills/Get SOM class in "sunny" Ravensdale Washington. We'll be posting new episodes of Down Zero TV each week at Gun Nuts, and assuming it doesn't get deleted, right here in this thread. Here's a Special Clip (very special) from Todd's class:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBVsy4cdSw

Obviously, I blame everyone else for the distractions that made me drop that head shot. ;)

ToddG
03-30-2011, 10:11 PM
Math is hard...

jetfire
03-30-2011, 11:32 PM
No arguments here, I had trouble counting to 13 multiple times that weekend.

Prdator
03-31-2011, 08:28 AM
Man that will be cool!! Maybe turn it into a TV show on the Outdoor Channel?

And yea Math is Hard!!

orionz06
03-31-2011, 08:33 AM
Looks good. I guess I am the only one that thinks math is pretty easy.

VolGrad
03-31-2011, 09:16 AM
Math is hard...

True dat.

That's why I'm called the Tactical Statistician. :cool:

Tamara
03-31-2011, 09:56 AM
I hadn't seen the goatee yet, so at first I though that was Evil Caleb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Spock). :D

ToddG
03-31-2011, 10:07 AM
I hadn't seen the goatee yet, so at first I though that was Evil Caleb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Spock). :D

We made fun of the facial growth at length, as well. That must be on video somewhere. :cool:

jetfire
03-31-2011, 11:26 AM
Sadly, I didn't get nearly as much video as I would have hoped; the rain is not the friend of a $500 HD camera. Despite our three days of nice weather.

ToddG
03-31-2011, 11:35 AM
Sadly, I didn't get nearly as much video as I would have hoped; the rain is not the friend of a $500 HD camera. Despite our three days of nice weather.

FWIW, I bought one of these for about $300 last year and have used it very successfully in the rain: Sanyo Xacti (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/600627-REG/Sanyo_VPC_WH1YL_Dual_Camera_Xacti_720p.html)

Looks like that particular model is no longer available, but I'm sure there are comparable more up to date options. Having a video/still camera you can use in a downpour is pretty nice.

rsa-otc
03-31-2011, 11:43 AM
FWIW, I bought one of these for about $300 last year and have used it very successfully in the rain: Sanyo Xacti (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/600627-REG/Sanyo_VPC_WH1YL_Dual_Camera_Xacti_720p.html)

Looks like that particular model is no longer available, but I'm sure there are comparable more up to date options. Having a video/still camera you can use in a downpour is pretty nice.

Cool;

I need to get me one of those. Right after my Glock 9mm so I can shoot SSP and GSSF.

jetfire
03-31-2011, 12:09 PM
I actually just took delivery of one of those GoPro hatcams. The mount is waterproof, so for future filming I'll be able to at least get some footage in the downpour.

VolGrad
03-31-2011, 12:43 PM
I actually have some video of TLG pulling a head shot on the FAST from our AFHF but dum@$$ me held the camera sideways thinking I could rotate it later like a still so it looks stupid ... unless I can figure out how to rotate it.

Maybe I can blackmail Todd with it. :cool:

EDIT: In the interest of full disclosure I have vid of me pulling both head shots. :(

JV_
03-31-2011, 12:49 PM
http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MPEG_Video_Wizard

VolGrad
03-31-2011, 12:52 PM
I can prob do it on my Mac in iMovie or something other viewer I have but just haven't really looked. Frankly, when I open iMovie it is pretty intimidating. :o

jetfire
03-31-2011, 01:44 PM
I use Sony Vegas for my basic video editing needs, it works very well and I can even rotate footage around.

jetfire
04-06-2011, 03:39 PM
Oh look, more teaser footage for Down Zero TV. This one we shot with the new GoPro camera to make sure it could handle indoors shooting. A couple of lessons: I need to tweak the audio and mess around with the lighting a little bit in post. Shooting related, I need to practice not riding the slide stop on the P250. I was round counting, and I expected it to go to slidelock, when it didn't I got slightly confused which cost me a bunch of time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GaKFGo2hro

When I ran the stage again in low light (no video) I did a RWR behind the barricade before moving to P3 to shoot the steel. What you can't see in the video is that if you hit the cardboard behind the barrels just right, you could actually slide on both knees John Woo-style into position to shoot the steel. I wish I'd had the 3rd person camera going for that, because I was told it looked cool. And looking cool is important!

jetfire
04-13-2011, 09:24 PM
Boom, new video. This one should have been longer, but the hat cam crapped out and ate all my delicious 1st person footage. Background - now that I've got the P250s and ample magazines, I'll be shooting Production/SSP for the remainder of the year with the P250. This was my last stage at the match, I shot it in 17.15 seconds with all alfas...which meant I shot it too slow. The GM that won the stage shot it in 13.65 with 2 charlies. I shot 82% of his HF on that stage, which was also my highest stage of the match. Overall, I shot 75% of the GM that won; which for my first match in Production since 2009 I'm okay with.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL-mnTSEiYk

In retrospect, I should have started moving when I shot the right side array instead of staying static and blasting them; that would have cut easily 1 or 2 seconds off my time.

jar
04-13-2011, 10:31 PM
Moving might not have helped that much, because you still needed to reload and shoot the last target without breaking the 180. It would've saved some, but possibly not as much as you first thought.

jetfire
04-14-2011, 04:18 PM
I thought about that; but what you can't really see in the video is that the 180 for that last target was even further downrange than it appears. You would have to have been standing past the blue barrel to break the 180 when engaging the last target.

jetfire
04-19-2011, 01:15 PM
Down Zero TV is finally, officially here! We launched the challenge on Saturday at an IDPA club match, where I manged to shoot a total of -7 points the entire match and win most accurate. Here's the video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXa1U_K-blI

Big takeaways from the match - Stage 1 (which was actually the last stage of the match for me) was painful to watch. The only way to really guarantee a down zero on that stage was to go for nothing but head shots, and on the 15 yard target the front sight of the P250 completely occluded the head box, giving me very little feedback. I dropped a total of six points on that stage alone. The rest of the match, I only dropped one point, giving away that point on a swinging target.

Lessons: I can shoot faster and still get down zero hits. There were stages, such as stage 2 and stage 5 where I could have opened up the tap a bit and still shot everything down zero. If I can hit an IDPA head box on command out to 25 yards, I'll be able to make 99% of the shots called for in an IDPA match.

Other stuff - we're trying to get the channel to 1000 subscribers by the end of the week. If we do that, I'll donate 300 bucks to the NRA, so please hit the channel link and subscribe!

ToddG
04-19-2011, 04:28 PM
If we do that, I'll donate 300 bucks to the NRA, so please hit the channel link and subscribe!

Done.

So are you changing it to Down Seven TV? :cool:

Oh there's an idea... let's keep an official pistol-forum.com tally of how many points Caleb drops this season! As a sign of support, I mean. No really. :p

jetfire
04-19-2011, 06:10 PM
Sounds good to me, and if I go over 100 points I'll donate a buck per point over 100 to the NRA on top of it.

jetfire
04-26-2011, 02:16 PM
Here's the next episode of Down Zero TV: Going for Speed.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVkOG4iywTw

To contrast with episode one where the goal was pure accuracy, for the 2nd episode I took a look at shooting fast enough to win the match; taking 1st place SSP and just missing high overall. I did drop 30 points this match, which means I'm only 67 points away from having to start donating money to NRA for dropping over 100 points this season!

Next IDPA match, I'll be looking for that perfect balance of speed and accuracy; however that won't be coming for a while as the month of May has me on the road through most of the local club matches. We will have more videos though, Down Zero TV will be looking at IDPA products and gear at the NRA Annual meetings as well taking a look at The Central States Pro-Am Challenge, Bianchi Cup, and many more major matches.

ToddG
04-26-2011, 03:49 PM
I added a tally to the top of the original post...

jetfire
04-26-2011, 04:13 PM
Awesome.

jetfire
05-23-2011, 10:25 AM
Finally, a new episode of Down Zero TV! In this episode, I don't shoot any IDPA, I'm trying to not get a farmer's tan, and I manage to miss a wide open 12 inch steel plate at 8 yards. But hey, I still got out of there with a match win, so I'll take it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqRolgKDe1Y

Actual commentary: I actually really struggle with Steel Challenge type games. The "best" way to win at Steel Challenge is to shoot 4 solid, fast, consistent strings and then go for it on your 5th string. My problem is I'll shoot 3 fast, consistent strings then think "oh man I'm doing really well" which will inevitably result in me totally screwing up and having to dial back on my 5th string to make sure I can get 3 good times and 1 average time.

You'll also notice that on the short stage, I take a long time getting into the "standby" position before each string. That's all about heart rate control. When I shoot really fast steel stages like that, I have to take two deep breaths between each string to try and slow my heart back down. For some reason my blood just gets really jumping when I'm shooting 2.5 second runs on steel plates.

The next few episodes are going to focus on Bianchi Cup, and then it'll be back to the IDPA goodness for the rest of the year!

JV_
05-23-2011, 10:44 AM
Looks like a lot of fun .... I really need to start shooting competitively - especially if there is a lot of steel :)

jetfire
05-23-2011, 11:19 AM
Steel Challenge is a blast for sure. It also has the lowest bar of entry of any of the shooting sports, since you can compete with a rimfire .22 with a cheapo $45 red dot and be competitive at club level matches.

jetfire
07-08-2011, 01:17 PM
Oh yes! It's been so long, but there is a new Down Zero TV (http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?p=9784) Episode! This one is all POV, so if you're susceptible to motion sickness, I recommend not going the fullscreen route. Otherwise, here's the link to the text part of the episode (http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?p=9784) and of course, here is the video. See if you can identify the stage where I got on the trigger a weeeeeeee bit too early.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guISP_RgzHE

All that said though, I pulled a 3rd place finish in CDP. I can take that, even if I didn't shoot as well as I'd like!

Kyle Reese
07-08-2011, 02:53 PM
Looks like a lot of fun .... I really need to start shooting competitively - especially if there is a lot of steel :)

Better wait till you've got a 1050 for that! ;)

jetfire
07-12-2011, 02:02 PM
Here it is Tuesday, and here's another episode of Down Zero TV!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrDfF76zjr0

Fun things in this video - magazine yard sale because I didn't have my pouches tightened correctly, lots of steel, and generally a fun match. I also am shooting some funny looking Austrian gun instead of my usual 1911. I have to say, I kind of enjoyed the switch to the plastic-fantastic. As I detailed in other posts, I'm shooting this gun considerably faster than either a 1911 or the Sig P250. As I type this, there is a box with some Warren Tactical sights in it as well just waiting to go on the 34.

willowofwisp
07-12-2011, 05:35 PM
Caleb, great video and some good shooting, You were pretty quick on those stages, nice smooth transitions and mag changes too.

jetfire
07-20-2011, 02:09 PM
Thanks! This week I've got two new videos for DZTV. The first is watching a collection of top notch GMs shoot several stages at the 2011 ProAm.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsbNZ2MdbB0

These guys are obviously the best in the game, and one of the neat things you can learn from the video is how little they miss. The second video this week is the hat-cam video of me shooting the same match. As an A-class USPSA shooter, I'm no slouch and did well enough to beat over 100 people at this match and walk the prize table. But it's crazy to see just how much faster and how much more steel the "real" GMs clear than someone like me. But that doesn't mean I didn't have fun!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad9IY7aLXzc

irishshooter
07-20-2011, 03:00 PM
really enjoy the vids Caleb. keep 'em up and nice work at the Pro Am. I noticed your hat in one of the other vids, you a boilermaker?

jetfire
07-20-2011, 03:07 PM
I most certainly am! People think who think "Glock vs 1911" gets heated have never attended a Purdue vs. IU game.

irishshooter
07-20-2011, 03:17 PM
I most certainly am! People think who think "Glock vs 1911" gets heated have never attended a Purdue vs. IU game.

way too true!!! well keep up the good work behind the camera and the gun, i really enjoy watching the videos!

jetfire
07-29-2011, 03:31 PM
I should really come up with like, a schedule of when to post these things. New Down Zero TV!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnrKraRNgWM

The Timberwolf continues to run like a meth addict at a clown convention (what?) with no issues whatsoever. At the end of the video, you might notice that I'm wiggling the shit out of the gun when I try to reload, that's because apparently after getting dropped in the dust and not wiped down, even Glock mags might not drop free. The match video is from the 2nd Northwest Challenge Series match. I'm running L-10 with minor power factor in this video. Also, that Texas star really was slow. The way it was set up prevented me from just burning it down, so I just waited for each plate to hit its apex and then shot it while it was sitting still. Boring.

DonovanM
07-30-2011, 01:37 PM
Nice shooting!

Tamara
08-04-2011, 10:30 AM
The Timberwolf continues to run like a meth addict at a clown convention (what?) with no issues whatsoever.

Dude, I'd say that a meth addict at a clown convention has some definite issues. ;)

jetfire
08-04-2011, 12:48 PM
So, the mental image I had in mind when I wrote that sentence was of a meth addict walking into a clown convention and freakin' out then running away. Which still makes me giggle...