Paintball Guns as a Training and Self Defense Tactic

Let me just say up front:  Colorado law gives me criminal and civil immunity from prosecution should I decide to use deadly force in the event of a home invasion.  In a home invasion scenario, I will take full advantage of the legal protections afforded to me by law.  The main objective of any self-defense method is to stop the attack, and my philosophy is to stop the attack and protect my family by the most effective means available to me at the time.  For me, that method of self-defense includes having ready firearms, being trained to use them, and then employ them where needed. 

But not all people are comfortable having firearms in their homes, and not everyone is comfortable shooting firearms.  That is fine.  The methods that are right for me are not necessarily the methods that are right for others, and I respect that.  I wrote an article a while back on "Principles versus Tactics" to explain that you have to decide what you are willing to do in a particular situation, then for you to decide how you will accomplish that.

It is also important that I maintain my training and proficiency in my primary self-defense tool as well as a variety of other self-defense methods that I may need to employ to stop an attack.  It is not always time or cost effective to schedule trips to the range to expend live ammunition.  There are a variety of training methods out there that I use, including dry firing with the LASR App System, and using non-lethal projectile shooting tools such as paintball to help build the muscle memory involved in firearms operation, and that allows you to actually practice tactics with moving targets in a safe environment.

There are many other self-defense and training tools out there, but in my testing, I have found one in particular that I am writing about today offers both a good training tool and a good home defense tool, especially for folks who just aren't comfortable with having firearms in their homes.

Paintball as a Training Tool:

When it comes to training for tactics, having the ability to shoot at moving targets, and in return being shot at by moving targets offers more realism into actual scenarios that you may encounter.  This is a type of training often referred to as "force on force" training and is more effective at helping you to learn tactics and gun handling skills under pressure than simply shooting at static targets.  The type of training tools to achieve the desired proficiency outcomes is an important aspect to consider, however.  Whereas airsoft tends to use guns that emulate actual weapons functionality, such as forcing you to perform magazine changes, they offer little, in comparison to paintball, in the "pain" incentive to force you to be more tactfully minded to prevent from being shot.  While I have found airsoft to be a great training tool for indoor close quarters training, paintball offers a more fast-paced alternative to outdoor and longer range scenarios.  Since the incentive "not to get shot" is higher with paintball, the "stress inoculation" component obtained provides a more realistic force on force training as well.

Paintball as a Group Bonding Tool:

Putting on my prepper hat for a moment: Being able to train with your family, members of a team that you are prepping with, or even just the people you work with has its benefits also.  Paintball fields seem to be popping up all over the place.  Here in Colorado, "woodsball" is a very popular activity, as we have our beautiful mountains and forests in which to play games, and those areas offer a wide variety of terrains and scenarios.  Grab your bio-degradable paintball ammo and head for the hills!  Paintball has become very popular for families and groups to include as part of a camping trip, as well as for groups of co-workers to plan team-building events. 

Paintball as a Home Defense Tool:

In my recent testing, I have been quite impressed with the types of non-lethal self-defense paintball ammunition on the market today.  In addition to regular paintballs, you can also purchase pepper balls that contain pepper spray, hard rubber balls, PVC nylon balls, and even glass balls containing iron dust for use in paintball guns as a self-defense tool.  In my testing with various materials used as targets, I have seen the PVC Riot Balls, for example, cause enough damage on multiple thicknesses of heavy cardboard and drywall to be very plausible as a self-defense method.  I am awaiting a shipment from Bulls Breaker Balls in South Africa so that I can test their latest product, but my research so far indicates that that product has promise as a self-defense ammunition as well.

Paintball Gun Recommendations:

Hands down, the Tippmann A5 is my personal recommendation.  The Tippmann A5 is sort of the "Ruger 10/22" of the paintball gun world in that accessories, modifications, air supply variations, upgrades, and spare parts are so plentiful and widely marketed, that this gun can be personalized very easily.  This gun is extremely easy to work on and maintain, and there are a plethora of YouTube videos out there to give you advice and instruction.  I also prefer the Tippmann A5 simply because of the "Cyclone" feed system that has shown to be extremely reliable, and saves the expense of having to buy an add-on electric hopper, or some other feeding system, ta make the gun run consistently and reliably.  The Tippmann A5 also uses the larger 20+ oz CO2 and 3,000psi High-Pressure Air (HPA) supplies, which allows for larger capacities and more shots.  Reusable CO2 canisters are relatively inexpensive to purchase and fill, and fairly easy to find refill stations.  HPA refill equipment is becoming more readily available and inexpensive, and HPA is said to actually be better on paintball gun internals and more consistently shooting in a variety of environmental conditions (temperatures) than CO2.

My home-defense Tippmann A5 is modified with a buttstock, red dot sight, Vortex magazine conversion kit, and Flatline Barrel.  The magazine conversion is inexpensive and was very simple to install.  Instead of a hopper that is now in the way, I have the ability to load 20-round magazines with a variety of ammunition types.  I have the red dot sight set up for very close engagements, zeroed for 21 feet, a typical distance of encounter within my home.  I have the velocity set at around 300fps, which is enough velocity to be effective, but yet low enough to help prolong the life of the gun internal valves and o-rings.  The CO2 supply is a 24oz external cylinder that is screwed in, but not fully, so as to prevent leakages, but still be on the gun so that it can be quickly screwed in the remaining turn or two to fully charge the gun when needed.  The ready condition of this gun also includes a fully loaded magazine in the gun and four spare fully loaded magazines nearby. 

For those of you who prefer more of a "handgun" type of platform, there are two front-runners out there.  The Tippmann TiPX, and the Tiberius T8.1.  In fact, the Tippmann TiPX is used as the manufacturing model for the SALT Supply Pepper Gun, as those models are actually manufactured by Tippmann, and then sold as a self-defense weapon.  Both the Tippmann and Tiberius are .68 caliber paintball guns, an important factor when choosing a caliber for your paintball ammunition.  68 caliber is the most readily available when choosing actual self-defense rounds, and it has more capability as a self-defense caliber (in my humble opinion) than the smaller paintball calibers.  Both also use the smaller 12-gram CO2 cartridge for the air supply.  These cartridges are very inexpensive to buy in large quantities but have very limited capacity when shooting.  I recommend the handgun platform as a backup, but not as a primary defense tool.

My personal preference (for the handgun platform) is the Tiberius T8.1.  The main reason I chose the Tiberius model is because the CO2 cartridge and the paintball rounds are both contained within the magazine.  That means that will very magazine reload, you are getting a fresh CO2 canister as well as more ammunition.  These paintball pistols only fire 10 or so rounds per paintballs CO2 cartridge, so being able to quickly reload both ammunition and CO2 quickly is extremely important in a self-defense scenario.  I also chose the Tiberius model because it comes ready to go out of the box with the ability to load and shoot the new "First Strike" shaped paintball rounds, which come in both paint and solid self-defense rounds.

A Word on Airguns/Airsoft for Self Defense:

Airsoft guns are NOT self-defense tools.  Period.  They may offer a half-second distraction so that you can flee and go find another weapon, but they will not stop an attack.  There is a chance that brandishing that airsoft gun will give the bad guys pause, but they will soon see that orange tip and know that you do not have the ability to do them any harm at that particular moment. Other air guns, such as pellet guns, may have the ability to cause minor injury or a momentary distraction, but again (in my humble opinion), pellet guns just are not made to be self-defense tools.  There are varying opinions about that out there, certainly, the video below explains some ideas on the subject.

Wrapping It All UP!

I believe in firearms as the most effective defensive measure in the event of a home invasion. Period!  Violent criminals only understand one thing: Force.  Speed, surprise, violence of action, and a determination to win will help you prevail against evil.  I always have a firearm at the ready at various places in my home and am ready to employ the firearms as a defensive measure all the time, but I also have non-lethal tools such as pepper spray and paintball guns that I see as viable options in home defense scenarios.  

Not everyone is comfortable with having firearms in their homes and would like a non-lethal measure to stop or at least slow down an attack.  Paintball guns offer a viable self-defense alternative, in my opinion.  There are a variety of inexpensive and reliable paintball guns out there, including the Tippmann A5 and Tiberius T8.1 guns, that can easily be adapted and customized for home defense use.  But whatever tool or tactic you choose, you must be familiar with the operation and maintenance of that tool, be familiar with its capabilities, and above all practice using them in order to be effective.

"Evil" Rifle Features - Hand Grips

Why am I showing a video of rifles being modified to comply with California gun laws? Because with all the new talk about gun control, California is being looked at as the model for gun laws for the rest of the country. The sheer nonsense and poorly thought-out reasoning of all this is likely coming to a state/city near you, so I wanted to use their example to give you a preview of things to come. California is the home of some of the most Draconian and worthless gun laws in the nation, but it's not surprising that other states, in their haste to "do something," would quickly adapt their model.
There are various accounts in gun control lore about California Senator Diane Feinstein deciding what types of guns to try to ban simply by picking up a gun magazine and circling all the pictures of guns that had "scary" or "evil' features. Adjustable/foldable stocks, pistol grips, flash hiders, forward grips, detachable magazines, and even the infamous "barrel shroud" are all "features" of what she calls an "assault weapon" and all seem to make the gun more "shootier" to her. So she wants to ban these features. Actually, she wants to ban ALL guns. But that pesky U.S. Constitution keeps getting in the way.
“If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States, for an outright ban, picking up every one of them (every gun) Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in. I would have done it.” - Diane Feinstein 
First off, these laws concerning firearms configuration are "engineered" by people who know nothing about firearms or firearms safety and are simply reacting to the fact that firearms are "scary" looking.  This is simply more of the "we gotta do SOMETHING" mentality, even if that something is meaningless or even dangerous.
The fact of the matter is that some of these modifications are just downright dangerous to the operator and those around him/her.  Things like certain handgrip modifications that make it easier to drop a rifle or fixed magazine modifications that make it more dangerous to clear certain types of firearms malfunctions all lend themselves to situations where people can get seriously hurt.  I'm not sure who the "experts" are that these people obtained when dreaming up these things, but I assure you that they just didn't think them through.  But I will discuss some of these modifications in more depth in separate posts.
So in this particular video, which mainly discusses "featureless rifles" and in particular different hand grips.  The issue with the handgrip, according to people like Diane Feinstein, is that it allows you to shoot the rifle "from the hip."  Really, Diane?  Is that your concern here? And I always thought that properly holding the rifle in a secure and safe manner would be a primary concern.  I want you to notice in this video how some of these grips just don't allow the operator to securely hold the rifle.  Dropping rifles is not what I call a safe practice.
If you don't have time to watch the whole video right now, at the very least, go to 12:55 in this video to listen to what Chris has to say about some of these ridiculous laws, and how they only penalize the law abiding.  Criminals and those with evil in their heart who want to shoot up Christmas parties, concerts, churches, or schools will not be following these laws.
Stay tuned for more information and more in-depth articles.  And stay involved!  Here in Colorado, we have a new legislative session coming up, not to mention the 2018 elections.  Now is not the time to go back to sleep.

Armor Concepts

Refuse to Be a Victim: Beware of Solicitors!

It’s late afternoon.  You are finally at home after a long day, and are relaxing on the couch. Someone comes to your front door.  You answer the door and this normal looking young man is there, and says that he represents a window company.  They are looking for homes in your neighborhood to install new energy saving windows, and then showcase your home as part of their advertising.  In return for allowing your home to be a showcase, you will get a significant cost savings on the project.  Nice looking guy.  Official looking clip-board, ID badge hanging from his neck, clean cut.  And this is such a good deal!  How can you pass this up?

This may be a legitimate sales call.  Or this may be a scam.

 

You are a little hesitant because perhaps you don’t want to start this type of major project right now, or maybe money is a little tight.  The sales pitch is now being laid on thicker and thicker to convince you that you really need to consider this. 

So the solicitor says:  “Can you give me a landline number?  My company will get in touch with you and explain the deal further.”

Did you catch the scam?  Before I tell you what it is, let me give you a hint and tell you that these scams are kind of like “sleight of hand” gimmicks in that one thing is used to distract you from the real purpose of the “mission” that this person is on.  And yes – I used the word “mission” on purpose to give you a hint.  Any thoughts yet?

The Scam:

OK – here it is.  This is possibly a reconnaissance mission.  Reconnaissance to look for targets for home invasion and/or burglary.  The thick sales pitch was a distraction from the other subtle things being asked, such as for you to give them a landline phone number.  And if you’re thinking about your house windows and energy savings, you aren’t thinking about looking for what other pieces of information this person is collecting during this visit.

First, by going door to door, our “salesman” gets to write down street addresses and house descriptions.  That official looking clipboard is for taking notes, after all.  A salesman writing down notes looks perfectly normal. 

They get to see if anyone is home at that time, they get to see who answers the door (man, woman, child), they can now tell which houses have dogs (as alerted by the doorbell), and they can also see which houses have alarm signs in their front yards (and/or stickers on the door).  If a person answers the door, besides seeing if an adult, man or woman, they can see what “type” of person it is: Stern, timid, mad, happy, geeky, forceful, easy to convince, skeptic, gullible, etc. 

All of these characteristics can help the thieves decide if that person will present a threat to them even if they are home during a potential home invasion.  They now also know what other threats to their success exist at that house.

Secondly, they asked specifically for a landline phone number.  Why do you suppose that is?  Well, if they have a street address, and can then associate a landline (hard wired) phone number to that address, they then have some pretty concrete exploitable information about your physical residence. 

Then the next part of the reconnaissance begins.  Several calls can be made to that landline to see if anyone is home at various times of day, find out who is home at those times (did an adult or children answer the phone?), and start putting together a pattern of the most opportune times for an invasion or burglary.  If someone answers, it is easy to fabricate a story for why they are calling.  It is also extremely easy to spoof the phone number for the caller ID, or simply make it appears as "Unknown." 

Associating a landline with a home with an alarm system also gives the thieves an opportunity to figure out which methods they need to use to defeat or circumvent the alarm.

Here's What You Can Do:

For starters, you are not obligated to answer your door.  But to help you decide whether or not to answer, consider installing a wide angle peep hole in your door so that you can see a wider area of your front entry area.

Only allow the adults in your house to answer the door.  Tell children that under no circumstances are they to open the door to anyone.

If you are going to answer the door, take a moment to compose yourself, put on your game face, and prepare yourself to question everything about this person standing at your doorstep.  You don’t need to verbalize every question, but don’t get so caught up in the sales pitch that you forget to keep asking yourself why they are here, what red flags should be going up, and what general suspicions you have about them.

Put a “No Soliciting” sign on your front door.  Where I live, it is against the law to make unannounced house sales calls like this if there is a “No Soliciting” sign posted.  Maybe this will keep them away and help avoid the whole situation entirely.  If it is a legitimate sales person, they know about the laws, and will probably honor it.  Criminals don’t know or care about laws.  If they won’t honor that “no Soliciting” sign, that should be a red flag.

Do NOT give them your home (landline) phone number under ANY circumstances.  I personally would be hesitant to even give them a cell phone number.  Ask for the company's phone number and tell them that YOU will initiate any call for service. 

Ask for more official identification (such as a driver’s license) to compare to that neat looking little ID badge they have hanging from their neck.  Write down who they are, what company they claim to be from, and even ask for a business card.  If they have no business cards, that should also be a red flag for you.

Answer their questions with conviction.  Don’t waffle or look like you are unsure of yourself.  But keep your answers short and direct.  Don’t give out information about you or your household.

If you are not interested in the sales pitch, state as such directly.  Again – tell them YOU will initiate contact with their company if services are desired, and after you have verified the legitimacy of their company.

After you close the door, write down everything you can remember about them.  Time, date, height, weight, race, hair color, clothing, what they were carrying, name from identification.  Were they on foot, or did they drive up in a vehicle?  If a vehicle, write down a description and license plate number, if able.  Did they seem nervous?  What was their general demeanor?

If you have an alarm system, explore whether or not cellular technology is available for the monitoring portion of the alarm, or consider switching to an alarm company that does offer cellular technology.  I have looked into the “SimpliSafe” alarm system, for example, and will be switching to that from ADT. (I will write a separate review once installed).

It may be a legitimate sales call, or they may be sizing you up for burglary or home invasion.  Absent your crystal ball or superpowers for predicting the future, you have no way of telling.  If it is for criminal purposes, you have to remember that they are sizing you up and doing risk analysis on you and your home.  They don’t want to get hurt “on the job” and they don’t want to go to jail.  It is your job to size them up also, try to see the red flags, and do your own risk analysis and threat management.

Ultimately, you need to do whatever is possible to make your home an undesirable target for them.  If you can get them to move on and eliminate you as a target quickly, then that is a very good thing.

Refuse to be a victim!

Principles versus Tactics

In order to know what you want to do (or are willing to do) in a given situation, you need to know which aspects of your strategy for doing it are absolutely non-negotiable, and which aspects are subject to flexibility.  Which aspects are you not willing to compromise?  And which aspects will you have to adapt to your abilities, resources, and practicality?  Ask any "sheepdog" about their willingness to step up and help others, and he or she will tell you that there are just certain things in our lives that are non-negotiable. 

One of the important things I have learned in my recent tactical firearms skills training at Makhaira Group is the concept of principles versus tactics.  A principle, as our instructor drilled into us over and over, is something that you are absolutely not willing to negotiate.  It is the “what” of your belief system. Tactics, on the other hand, are the “how” of your strategy to adhere to that belief system, the specifics of which may vary from time to time, but they still enable you to adhere to your principles.  These are the “enabling objectives,” if you will.  

The fact that I must eat to survive is an example of a principle.  But when I go to the cafeteria to eat, I am free to pick and choose what specific items I want to eat at that particular time.  But there is no more appropriate a place to discuss principles and tactics, in my opinion, than in the realm of self-defense and the defense of your family and others.

prin·ci·ple

  /ˈprɪnsəpəl/ [prin-suh-puhl]

noun

an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct: a person of good moral principles.
 

a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived.

a fundamental doctrine or tenet; a distinctive ruling opinion.

principles, a personal or specific basis of conduct or management: to adhere to one's principles.

guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct.

tac·tic

   /ˈtæktɪk/ [tak-tik]

noun

a plan, procedure, or expedient for promoting a desired end or result.

Here’s an example of a self-defense principle and its accompanying tactics:

Principle:  I will provide multiple layers of protection for my home and family against criminal invasions.

Tactics: An alarm system, a big dog, strong door locking hardware, and firearms in the hands of a proficient home owner, are all things that I might employ to provide my home protection.

Explanation:  The fact that I will protect my home and my family from criminal invasion or attack is not open for discussion.  It is non-negotiable.  And I don’t care what any one else's opinion is about whether or not I should be doing this.  But how I do it is a matter of which tools I wish to employ, and may be based on my personal preferences and/or the opinions and experiences of others.  

Let’s take the above tactics one at a time:  

The alarm system:  What if I don’t want, or can’t afford the alarm hardware and the monthly fees?  What if I am renting and the home owner will not allow me to install an alarm system on the premises? I can get simple alarm-like devices that make a loud noise when a door or window is opened, and mimics an alarm system.  I can post alarm signs in my yard that warn potential intruders that I have an alarm system installed.  The criminals don’t know the difference.  Criminals will select the easiest targets.  If your home offers even a hint of being more difficult to break into, they will move on to an easier target.  That psychological effect in and of itself is yet another tactic that I can employ.

The dog: What if I am allergic to dogs or just don’t want the responsibility?  What if my present dog is a small dog and I don’t want a larger one?  I can still put large dog bowls in plain view.  Anyone who looks in my windows sees a set of large dog bowls, but has no idea whether or not I have a dog, or what kind it is.  I can also get a motion detecting device that lets out a loud dog bark if anyone approaches the house. Again: criminals will select the easiest targets.  If your home offers even a hint of being more difficult to break into, they will move on to an easier target.

Door hardware: Do I use a deadbolt that requires a key on both sides, or one with a key-less knob on the inside? Do I also augment that with a hidden chain lock?  I didn’t say how many or what brand.  You can put 15 deadbolts on each side of your doors if you want.  But honestly, this is one place not to skimp.  Get good locks, install longer screws in the hinges and strike plates, and keep the doors locked at all times.  This is a simple tactic to employ.

Firearms: I may choose to use a shotgun for home defense today, but decide to use an AR-15 tomorrow.  Someone else may choose a handgun for their home defense.  I choose to keep my home defense firearms loaded all the time, but the state you live in may not allow that.  Your tactics for deploying will then be different.  But in choosing that a firearm is part of my tactics, I also know that the choices are virtually unlimited.

There are still other tactics not mentioned here that I can choose, or I may choose not to employ some of the above. But the important thing here is that you know what principles you are not willing to negotiate, and what tactics you select to meet those principles.  Principles helped found our country, and tactics helped win the wars.  Stick to your principles and don’t allow others to force you to compromise.