Opinion
Ft Collins, CO –-(Ammoland.com)- 2108 ILEETA (international Law enforcement Educator’s and Trainer’s Association) Conference, St Louis, MO
We just attended the second day of this year’s ILEETA Convention at the wonderful Union Station Hotel in downtown, St Louis, MO
Both Vicki and I are teaching classes, among dozens of others. I tried to attend them all. The presentation on Fentanyl scared the snot out of me!
LEOs from around the world are in attendance. The ILEETA Convention gets better, and bigger, each year! Harvey Hedden and his Crew masterfully look after a million details!
The Vendor’s area is huge!
Of note:
My friend and colleague, Ross Botha, at Lancer showed me their 20-rnd 308 magazine (also available in 25-rnd, but I prefer the 20-rnd version, considering it exactly the right length), now with an adjustable valve at the bottom. Open, it will quickly drain water from the magazine body. Closed, it will seal it off. Default position is “open.” I’ll be using them!
The Blue Training Systems Eye Gouge Training Head is a full-sized, plastic head, with a handle replacing the neck. It is used to train officers in close contact with a violent suspect how to strike the head in an effort to break contact and then gain access to other weapons. Excellent training device, marketed by Blue Training Systems.
I asked friends at SIG if they recommended sending 320s back to SIG, pursuant to their “voluntary” recall designed to address the weapon’s drop-safety issue. SIG was able to replicate drop-engendered UDs in rare insistences, and under very specific circumstances, even then at less than a tenth of one percent of the time.
The recall fixes the problem! It involves replacement of a number of parts, plus some machining operations.Takes two weeks, and needs to be done at the factory. There is no charge, and SIG pays shipping, both ways! Trigger release and reset are both actually improved, asI discovered, so there is no downside!
As with SA’s XD recall of several years ago, this recall fixes a very remote and unlikely issue, but I’m not, in either case, going to second-guess factory engineers. So, I’m sending my copy of the 320 back to SIG next week. You can go to their Web Page for all the info.
Krudo knives were very impressive! I got a copy. They can be used to get someone off of you really fast!
Four video simulators were on display:
The least expensive is the DART System. Set-up in minutes. Shows you where you’re hitting, and shows you muzzle movement prior to release, much like the Mantis system. Works with normal ambient lighting. Uses the SERT Pistol.
Next is the TI System. Sets-up/breaks-down in less than a hour. Screens work, but a light-colored walls works just fine too. Uses a CO2-powered pistol or rifle (to simulate recoil). Lots of scenarios! For between 5-10k, you’re good to go! Pistols, Tasers, rifles, flashlights are all accommodated.
The Meggit System (Fats-100P) is very sophisticated, also portable, but a good deal more expensive. Scenarios with multiple branches makes the number of possible outcomes essentially infinite! You can run one officer after another through the “same” scenario, but it is never the same! Barking dogs, screaming, loud cars, loud parties can all be injected into the scenario at any time. Guns are powered by compressed air from a scuba tank.
Most sophisticated, and most expensive, is the Milo System. Not really “portable,” but it features a 180 degree “stage.” Screens projectors are at the rear, so there is no shadow on the screens, no matter where you move, and the scenario will appropriately move with you as you move within the stage. Infinite scenarios, also dozens of “gallery” challenges. Heart-rate is monitored!
As I ran scenarios on the Milo System, my peripheral vision was severely tested! It really teaches you to look around!
More tomorrow!
/John
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor John Farnam will urge you, based on your own beliefs, to make up your mind in advance as to what you would do when faced with an imminent lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance if any. Defense Training International wants to make sure that their students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or in-actions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to the Planet Earth. Mr. Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com