Concealed Carry Applications 1 &2
BAER SOLUNTIONS & RUNENATION
runenationllc.com, baersolutionsllc.com
August 21 & 22, 2021
CLASS REVIEW, AAR​



Instructor: Ian Strimbeck, Drew Estell
Weather: Sat: Hot, humid, Sunny, 88° Sun: Hurricane Henri
Location: Cheshire County Shooting Sports, Keene, NH
Round Count: 650 +/-


This review is not in chronologic order of the two days. It’s an overview of the two-day class from my point of view.

Ian & Drew introduced themselves with a short background and their theory of coaching and how the class was going to be organized-overview of the two days. The range had two parts to it, Ian had a setup, Drew had his own setup, which was cool because they ran two separate range layouts within the class.

Each day we would start off with basic drilling of grappling combatives as a full group. After the grappling drilling, we would split off into two groups, one with Ian and the other with Drew. Once the block was over the groups would switch. This would be the structure for both days.

The morning cold-start grappling: Ian would explain the simple hands-on drill, explain the technique, break down the technique, demo the drill with Drew, and then Drew would give his take on the drill and technique. They would explain the why? And how it could come into play in the real world. We would practice the drill with a partner for short time and then switch partners and practice it on them as well. We did this procedure for three different and separate grappling drills. On day two we added blue guns and new drills. We practiced the new skills trying to get the blue gun out and retention shooting making sure our limbs were not in a position that a pass-through round would impact us. (If we shoot ourselves, it still counts… Just it’s a point for our enemy…)

Ian’s taught retention shooting. We did a lot of vertical & horizontal hand blocks while getting our gun safely out one-handed indexing it where it needed to be on our body and firing into the bad guy producing GET OFF OF ME NOW! Firing from a compressed condition moving backward creating distance and pushing the gun out until you were at your full extension and could use your sights for an accurate headshot. Time was spent talking and showing where possible strikes could be with your blocking arm/elbow as you are getting your gun out. I always love retentions shooting drills, I love the feeling of the concussion coming off the cardboard target!

Drew’s block was focused on recoil control, grip, and resetting the trigger, and immediately getting back the trigger wall once the shot broke getting ready for the next shot. We learned how to correctly defeat our cover garment. The proper efficient way to draw our pistol. Time was taken at the beginning to get this foundation correct as it was vital. We each shot our one-shot draw at the beginning of the block and compared it to our one-shot time at the end of Drews's block. Each in my group made great reductions in the time by the end of Drew’s block of instruction.

Ian taught the proper use of cover and concealment, when to be an arm’s length off and when to be right up against the cover. How to properly shoot around cover loading your weight on the correct leg. How to kneel while allowing yourself the proper balance so if you are bumped you will not fall over into the open. We used tall cover and low cover shooting from various elevations. We shot various distances and had hostage and no-shoot targets being constantly changed. Ian showed us some skills learned from his time doing Executive Protection, how to deal with a “non-shooter” in a critical incident. The proper way to move them into a safe place behind cover while you worked the problem. All the little things you would not think of if you had not been through an EP course. Hand placements, principal placement when moving, principal placement when returning fire, keeping constant contact with them so they don’t wander off, communication with them reassuring them things will be okay on the worst day of their life, blood checks, and much more. The principal could be anyone that you are with when bad things are happening who has not been trained, your wife, husband, child, friend etc...

There was an in-depth discussion of pre-assault indicators. Very in-depth. Both Ian and Drew talked in length and demonstrated a lot of different indicators. This was fascinating to me. I have been in classes where pre-assault indicators have been talked about mostly target glances, but Drew and Ian really did a deep dive into this subject. When my group was with Drew, we role-played bad guy/good guy in front of the group. The bad guy would walk up and engage the good guy with a story and give a bunch of target indicators… At some point, the bad guy would decide to turn downrange, pull his gun, and shoot a steel target. Once the good guy recognizes three or more target indicators, he was to watch for a life-threatening action (seeing a gun and his draw) The good guy would turn downrange and draw his gun and shoot the steel target. Whoever got the first hit “won”. The group watching would talk about what the target indicators were. Some of the stories the guys came up with were really good and some were extremely humorous. I found this block to be my favorite of the class. We did this a few times each being the bad guy and the good guy. Something I noticed if you could disrupt the bad guy’s ODA-LOOP you were able to beat him to the target. I have heard that before, but this was the first time I actually got to try it and see it work for me. Fascinating! Love this block of instruction!

We had a mini-lecture on knives and how to use them to control people. There was a fairly large display of different fixed blade concealed carry knives on a table, each was talked about and how they could be carried and used. Some really good information in this block, I learned a lot from them showing different styles and real uses for controlling people. The part that stands out was the talk about the psychology of fighting with a knife vs a gun. Really interesting and useful stuff.

We learned how to draw safely from a seated position, i.e., a car, and shoot in front, out the driver's side window, and past a passenger safely out the passenger window. (We did not shoot past another person in these drills for safety concerns) We learned how to engage someone on the other side of a table inside of a restaurant or boardroom table. We practiced all these positions with Drew coming by and correcting us and giving us tips for a better technique.

We finished off the class with the Waffle House CTE. It was graded and it paid to be a winner! Shout-out to my friend Esteban! You were awesome and deserved to be the winner… I will not go into the drill in case you (hopefully you do) take this class. It was not difficult, but it did pressure test you. My grade was in the middle of the group. I made my hits accurately, but my time was not where it needed to be.

This was a phenomenal class! I have taken a lot of classes, and this was different because you had two instructors with different personalities and slightly different techniques. Ian and Drew are clearly good friends and complement each other’s styles. They have good chemistry and can joke around at times to lighten the atmosphere and make it a very enjoyable experience when talking about some very serious topics. They both have great personalities apart but when they are together it gets supercharged and something special happens (wonder twins activate.)

I highly recommend this class and both instructor classes individually. There is so much great information in this class that it is worth taking it a few times to really understand and myelinate the concepts into your body. You will get a ton of real-world information and skills from these two subject matter experts. Both Ian and Drew are likable, polite and will bring your skills up no matter where your skill level is. You will get personal attention in a good way. I was super impressed with the content of this class. Sign up early this class always sells out FAST!