Kit advice you'd give a first timer taking a carbine/pistol class

Tactical Gear Tactical Gear
1

The most frequent questions I get when I talk to people about formal carbine/pistol training classes are …

“What do I bring?”

and

“What do I wear?”

I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’ve got my list below. This list is not cheap - a few hundred dollars of additional investment.

Eye protection

Electronic hearing protection

Baseball cap

Long sleeve shirt (prevent brass burns on arms)

Scarf of some sort (prevent hot brass from falling down your shirt)

Comfortable pants (example - 5.11 TDU’s).

Nylon duty belt, to which you attach (example: Eagle)
+2 Primary weapon mag pouches (example: Blade-tech)
+3 Pistol mag pouches (example: Eagle)
+A hard shell polymer waistband pistol holster (example: Safariland 6004)
+A dump pouch (example: Maxpedition)

Maybe a vest in lieu of some of the above.

Kneepads (a lifesaver when shooting from the kneeling position).

A rain poncho, if necessary.

Range and weather appropriate footwear. Most of the time on a flat range, sneakers and hiking shoes are fine. If, however, you are shooting on rough or wet terrain, maybe it makes sense to have hunting or hiking boots for additional traction.

Rob Sloyer has a nice page on the topic on his website … was wondering what you folks might suggest as worthwhile investments for the first-timer who

  1. may be on a budget given that he or she is spending a lot of money on tuition, ammo, gas, meals, and lodging;

or

  1. may be in a position to buy once and cry once.
2

Most important thing is to talk to the instructor and find out what they require first and foremost.

3

+1

In a nutshell, and this packing list is for good weather. Adjust accordingly if you anticipate rain, etc.

-TWO Carbines- one primary, one reserve, both test fired and having a BZO established on the irons and optics (if you are running any).

-TWO Handguns- see above.

-Flashlight, weapon mounted and handheld. Spare batteries as well.

-Appropriate quantities of ammunition and magazines for the course. Ensure that these have been tested for reliable function prior to the course starting.

-Appropriate apparel/footwear for the course- meaning durable and comfortable clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty. This includes headgear, gloves, kneepads etc.

-Blow out kit- in the event of an injury to either yourself or another shooter. More good info/theory on this can be found in the First Aid section.

-Sunscreen, insect repellant, etc if appropriate.

-Hydration system & snacks.

-Electronic earpro and ballistic eyepro.

-Notepad and writing instrument.

-Appropriate holster for handgun and “tactical rig” in which to carry spare magazines and accessories.

-Good quality sling. Lots of thoughts on these- but as long as you can employ your primary and transition w/o alot of effort you should be good to go.

A word about gear. It’s prudent to make sure that your kit fits correctly, and that you can access mags to reload the weapon. Don’t show up to the course not knowing if the kit fits correctly, ect. Minor adjustments are fine, of course :slight_smile:

Again, this list is off the top of my head. It never hurts to ask previous students and the instructor about gear needs for various courses. :cool:

4

BINGO!

I would also add that whatever gear you bring you know how to use it or wear it unless its clearly an entry level program. That’s the only place you should be “learning” about your “new” kit that you just got from an internet purchase.

There may be some small exceptions to this rule but in general a gear queer with new stuff at an advanced level course not only fails in the training because they are constantly Fucking with their new stuff but it can hold up the other shooters.

Fluency with your gear or at least a damned good idea of how it works and having already tried it out a little on your home range will save you a lot of hassle and possibly embarrassment.

5

How about getting the instructor to tell you what zero he wants before the class…

6

…

7

Excellent! A good attitude will serve you better than any “kit’” on the market.

8

I see that “open mind” comment a lot, and I don’t disagree with it, and maybe it bears repeating but it’s also kind of obvious. If a person is going to go there, spend their money and time, and do so with a closed mind then no amount of telling them on the internet to “be open minded” is going to change that.

On the other hand, having decent gear, sussed out before hand, is imperative to enjoying a class and getting everything out of it. Having a primary firearm and a spare, both known to be reliable, having two of everything really (eye protection, hearing protection, hats, boots, clothes, etc.) will go a long way towards ensuring that the student can focus on what he is supposed to be focusing on, not fighting with garbage equipment.

I would say that one in ten students I see in the classes I attend are having some kind of gun or gear issue that keeps them from really getting everything (or even anything) out of the class. I had repeated gun issues in a class last December and it really screwed with my head.

This is why I suggested contacting the instructor. Knowing what they expect or require you to have is the first most important thing. For example, Pat Rogers expects 5 magazines for the carbine (one in the gun, 4 on the person). I have seen people show up for his class without the ability to meet this load-out requirement and they not only cause problems for themselves but for everyone else on the line.

Part of going to a class is of course to work out some gear issues, but there’s not really any excuse for showing up with shitty gear that doesn’t meet the requirements of the course and hasn’t been sussed out beforehand. People go and spend $1k+ on a three day class between tuition, ammo, hotel, travel, and then they bitch about spending an extra $50 on a chest rig that DOESN’T suck and that meets the instructor’s requirements.

9

As much as they may feel compelled to dress up and fully kit out with a chest rig and 12 loaded mags, that’s fine for an SOF member that’s going to be carrying the same load in the Hindu Kush, but that will slow you down bigtime in a class as a civilian.

Biggest things I found after an EAG, LAV, and VTAC class.
Dump pouch
Kydex single mag pouch
Knee pads (Arc’teryx Knee Caps are great)
Good sling that’s properly adjusted, preferably 2-point
A rifle that’s zeroed and lubed, and has been run at least a few hundred rounds to wring out any ghosts in the machine.
Big eyes and ears and a small mouth
the ability to take a hot brass casing down your back, or clothing that prevents that from happening
Self deprecating humor

This will go a long way to prevent you from being “THAT guy”