Kit for Training and Competition

[Lindy]

My friend Terry asked in another thread if I'd make a comment about kit for training and competition.

 

Training is pretty easy. I refer you to the equipment list down this page about a Rifles Only training course:

 

http://www.riflesonly.com/courses/pr1_5day.html

 

And, by the way, the list of skillsets covered by that course is also useful for anyone contemplating such a competition, although that might properly be a separate topic.

 

Personally, I'm a bit of a minimalist when it comes to competition as far as kit, though. The kind I like to shoot usually require movement within a stage as well as between stages, and I prefer not to be carrying things I'm unlikely to need.

 

Here's a list of what I might typically carry on a competition.

 

1. Rifle

2. Rifle cover by TAB Products - weighs little, easy on or off, keeps crap off the rifle. (This is not an advertisement, though I should probably mention that Tony Burkes is a good friend of mine, and my AI currently wears the first one he ever made to fit an AI. It works. Still.)

3. Magazines for the rifle.

4. Electronic hearing protector.

5. Rain jacket.

6. Pocket notebook and 4-inch wooden pencil stub.

7. Ammunition.

8. Dope card(s) - see note below.

9. Mildot Master for unknown-distance targets and angled shooting.

10. Nav gear - map, compass, GPS, only if required by the specific competition.

11. The pull-through bore cleaner from an Otis cleaning kit, in case debris gets in the bore.

12. Water, either a water bottle if the organizers provide water, or a Camelback bladder.

13. Couple of granola bars for snacks.

14. Laser rangefinder, if permitted by rules. Change the battery before the competition starts.

 

Whether those are carried in a backpack, or a combination of belt kit and pockets is optional. The older and slower I get, the more I tend toward the elimination of all possible weight to carry.

 

I should probably mention what I don't carry.

 

I don't carry a rear bag, which is just one more thing to pick up when you have to move. I shoot wearing Nomex flight-crew gloves, and I just wrap my support hand around the monopod on my AI, or on the rear swivel and sling of other rifles. Nor do I carry a shooting mat in a competition. If the ground is wet, I'm going to be wet anyway. The rain jacket provides protection for my upper body. (TAB Products has an excellent lightweight mat which folds up small, if you must carry one.)

 

I carry neither a hand-held ballistic computer nor a pocket weather station like a Kestrel. Instead I have a Casio Pathfinder watch for atmospheric pressure, and a cheap zipper-pull thermometer for the temperature. I carry a Density Altitude dope card, and a Density Altitude chart. I have a Kestrel, but believe the best use for that is for learning to judge the wind from the feel of the wind on your body and environmental indicators, which you can do when not shooting.

 

That's about it for me. I'll be curious to see what others like.

[Deserttech Europe]

Hi Lindy,

 

Couple if questions and items I carry that you didn't mention.

 

Does your kit load out change when in team comps?

 

I notice you did not mention spotter scope or shooting sticks, plus anal fool that I am I always have a first aid kit on me.

 

Ewen

[Lindy]

The first aid kit is a good idea, which I would carry hunting or packbacking. For comps, though, I just carry a couple of bandaids in a ziplock bag, as the organizers one hopes are equipped to deal with more serious injuries. Knowledge of first aid is essential for any outdoorsman, though, and is far more important than the kit carried. I took this course, and highly recommend an equivalent course.

 

I don't carry a spotting scope individually, but might carry one in a team event, which is the only addition I would probably make. I might sometimes carry compact binoculars for field events.

[Deserttech Europe]

Hi Lindy

 

My reason for the first aid kit, is basically paranoia, plus I have rarely (read never) seen another first aid kit carried that is correctly equipped to be a first response for gunshot trauma.

Sad fact is , I could probably help someone else out, but if I got smacked then I would be royally stuffed.

 

The spotting scope is usually for spotting wind rather than shots and the sticks are because my positional shooting sucks big time.....

 

 

DTA

[Scotch_egg]

Thank you for posting this. Having just read your equipment list on RO, I see you mention the rifle is required to be .308 or a short action calibre of moa accuracy. What other calibres would you recomend? Having been looking into this for some time an informed opinion of the optimum calibre would be great.

 

Also any spotting scope recomendations?

 

Dave

[brown dog]

Great info.

 

Love the simple approach; in particular I think the less experienced should note that the three letter abbreviation “PDA” doesn’t appear anywhere on Lindy's list!

 

Lindy, One place I differ is the use of density altitude charts;

you mention the use of station pressure and temp, and then using a chart to turn that into a DA then looking up the solution on another chart;

far better, I would suggest to have a chart that works directly from station and temp

 

Have a look at this – did a set for Terry’s 6.5x47 recently

http://ukvarminting.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8192

http://ukvarminting.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8226

 

I’m not overly familiar with tac competitions, but I am familiar with packing to live comfortably outside:

 

I always do a pack checklist that breaksdown under the following headings (the list here is the last time I went to a comp; I do a similar list when I go stalking (hunting)) …I’ve left all the boring detail in;

 

but the real point is the structured headings that enable me to visualise each permutation of kit that could be required.

 

Paperwork:

 

Casual:

Ranges (Dry):

Smock

T shirt, trs, belt

baseball cap

Desert boots

desert socks

desert gloves

Ranges (Wet):

DPM top & bottom goretex socks gtex baseball

Ranges (Cold):

fleece

 

Rifle:

AW (+bolt!) , magazines, bipod, scope cover.

 

All conditions cards, rifle slip

 

Rear bag

Altimeter

Ear defenders Surefire Plugs

Pull through

Other Kit:

Leup Spotter

TAB mat

waterproof liner, camera, batteries (9V & AAA), torch, notebook, pen & pencil (with sniper tape wrap), 3m paracord,

Phone & charger,

1 x padlocks. Sunglasses.

 

Rucksac sidepouches sitting strap

 

 

 

 

I do carry a rear bag; but one filled with poly micro-beads that weighs absolutely nothing.

 

I’m absolutely with you on windmeters – they should be used to calibrate your senses.

I’m a bit blunter on temp – I think we can all guess temp to the nearest 5 deg C.

 

I generally have quikclot to hand - carried (together with any forgotten or particularly heavy or unecessary items of kit) on a Ewen.

[Deserttech Europe]

Ain't that the truth.....I think I would make a good Sherpa at times. :-)

 

 

DTA

[Scotch_egg]

You won't find many paramedics in the uk that can deal with quick clot. Be careful if you need to use it. Combat situations are different with properly trained medics.

[Lindy]

BD: Your cards look slick. More power to you.

 

The intent of my web pages was to show users how make their own, which would be usable under any conditions anywhere in the world. Many of the military ELR shooters we train do carry a Kestrel, so the DA charts for them are for backup.

 

And part of that was in self-defense, to limit the number of satellite calls I got in the middle of the night from a shooter deployed on a mountaintop somewhere asking for dope.

[brown dog]

Lindy,

 

Be keen to see some pics of your competition belt rig if at all possible?

[Lindy]

I'm between belt rigs at the moment. The one I was using, which was based on an enhanced Black Hawk pistol belt, with a Safariland 6004 holster - most of our comps have pistol stages - with utility pouches, got tossed by my wife. We separated temporarily - now permanently - and she put everything of mine she had access to at the time in a dumpster.

 

I have a new belt and holster, but haven't had time to recreate the full kit. It's nothing fancy, though. It does have belt suspenders with a hydration bladder, and my rain gear is strapped to the suspenders. Depending on the ammo requirement, the suspenders may get left off, and replaced with a small daypack for ammo which has a hydration bladder.

[Deserttech Europe]

Hi Scotch-egg,

 

I completey agree about the chance of Paramedics being aware of quick clot or any other hemostatic agent, however, if I felt that a wound was serious enough to warrant its use then the ignorance of Paramedics would be last on my mind. An awareness of the limitations and dangers of these agents is important, but I personally would want the risk of some tissue damage due to burn if it saved my life.

 

I would appreciate more comments on this though, and perhaps this would warrant a seperate thread under field trauma care.

 

For example I would be curious what other shooters carry and how many have been on a trauma course that covers firearms injuries rather than just a St Johns first aid course. (for clarity I am not putting the St Johns course down at all and it is also very valid for daily life).

 

regards

 

DTA

[Patriot741]

Lindy,

 

Good to see you here. I've seen some of your postings over on the Hide and wondered if you'd turn up here.

 

Thanks for the equipment listing, I'm in the process of cutting down on the kit I use at the moment so this list gives me some more things to go on.

 

 

DTA,

 

Current thinking on firearms injuries (from a Police standpoint anyway) revolves around the use of the Israeli bandage with pressure bar and straps. I specifically asked about the Qwik-Clot and the consultant who teaches our course said that it's not widely known about here, but if it gets so bad that you're thinking of using it, then use it and just make sure the empty pack / wrapper goes with the casualty to hospital so that they know what's been used and can then irrigate the wound as necessary when dealing with it.

 

Derek.

[terryh]

Lindy,

 

Concur on the keeping it light, learnt this very quickly. Buy a small pack - makes you think about what you really need.

 

Re. Rifle. One thing to add is have faith in your rifle. Be confident it will do as you ask, you do not want to be worrying about mechanical performance while doing a comp.

 

They've given clues in the info. supplied so far - scored zeroing. So check your zero, clean your rifle then check it again with a few rounds - and leave it that way. With a 100 round count you should not need to clean you rifle till it's all over = no potential for POI change.

 

A good sling is helpful for both lugging your rifle round and stability in positional shooting. I can recomend the TAB item, changed from my TIS, liked the way it worked, similar to and AI sling.

 

Lindy - love to ditch the rear bag but I'm a bit attached to it . Again they have stated positional off supports, so a strip added to your bag (if not present from the manufacturer) which hooks over your bi-pod legs allows it to be used as a rest on barricades and move with the rifle, rather than balancing the bag on the barricade then balancing the rifle on the bag.

 

Good spotter between a team is probalby the way to go, but your scope's pretty neat and handy if you do not have one.

 

A point to think about, this is proposed as a team event - go out and practice with your 'team', like agreeing how you will call corrections etc. One less thing to do on the day.

 

While talking about teams, best bet is if you're both shooting the same design of scope or spotter scope reticle i.e. mil dot. Keeps from having to do math under pressure on the line

 

As Matt said, a check list of your kit before you pack is nice reassurance while your driving there - did I pack that?. Put you kit into any pack the same way, then you know exactly where to go to retrieve it.

 

Cheers Terry

[Deserttech Europe]

Excellent advise Terry.

 

DTA

[terryh]

DTA

 

We try!

 

Terry

[tburkes]

Hey Lindy, now we're both on the other side of the pond.

 

I'm sure Lindy can expand on this, but like Terry said the team really needs to be on the same wavelength as far as communication. I can't say how many times I've seen guys "helping" each other by saying "just off the left edge" "up and to the right" " come down a little" I mean what does all that mean really?

 

Since you don't know where the shooter was actually holding you should give corrections in the direction needed to make the spotted impact hit the center of the target.

 

If you see the impact at .5 mils left and 1 mil high, the proper call should be "come down 1 mil and right .5 mils" I think Lindy likes to preface that with "correct down 1 mil and right .5 mils" if I remember right. If I'm wrong on this he'll slap me back into place.

 

You should know where all your gear is located so you're not having to dig into all your pockets and pouches for an item when you should be thinking about what you're about to do.

 

Lindy doesn't use the rear bag, but lots of guys do. Quite a few people who use our rear bag have stick the bipod legs through the webbing on the bag to use as a cushion on barricades, and then leave it there when they're moving from target to target.

 

Some matches require you to remove your rifle mag when moving from stage to stage. This started out as simply a safety measure, but it was discovered that people don't practice this much and it's a needed skill set, so it's done quite a bit at Rifles Only matches now. You may need a dump pouch, or some place to put a mag if you need to remove it and move quickly.

[Seamus]

All - this a brilliant and informative thread - really interesting and useful! Thanks!

[brown dog]

If you see the impact at .5 mils left and 1 mil high, the proper call should be "come down 1 mil and right .5 mils" I think Lindy likes to preface that with "correct down 1 mil and right .5 mils" if I remember right. If I'm wrong on this he'll slap me back into place.

 

Spot on in my book - describe the correction to apply (& not where it went!)

 

Also need to decide whether talking in mils or 0.1milrad - and stick to it: "left 10; down 5" mil or 0.1 mil?

 

 

I'd also suggest that the left/right should always precede the up/down.....get used to saying, get used to hearing.

 

Understand the prefacing with "correct" but it should be a redundant word, as should the statement of unit.

Eg half the time to say

"Right 5, down 10"

than

"correct down 1 mil and right .5 mils"

 

 

Great discussion!

(Ewen: Like the idea of a side piece on CELOX etc)

[Lindy]

I put "Correct" in there because I work with a variety of shooters, many of whom describe the location of impact, rather than the correction required to hit the center of the target.

 

Better, if you're working with a person on the same page, is simply to describe the change in POA necessary to hit the target.

 

Smooth shooter-spotter dialog is necessary to shoot well as a team - and that means they should be using equipment graduated in the same system, i.e., scope reticles, scope adjustments, ranging units, etc.

 

Practice communication until you need the bare minimum. For example, rather than saying "shooter ready" after a spotter command, with one partner I would simply grunt, so I didn't have to open my mouth, which might affect my cheek weld on the stock.

[brown dog]

I think we're all on the same page

 

(PS: I'd assumed that was the reason for the word 'correct')

[ChrisF]

As far as course's go I did what the Army called a 1st Aid course back in 1990 , it was 2 weeks & trust me when I say its a bit different & more involved than a 1-2 day 1st Aid course ( done my St Johns , in NZ ) , our course concentrated on different types of gun shot wounds , sucking chest wounds etc , and had a lot of hands on sims & tests , the buggers would try to squirt you with blood from the fake wounds etc .

 

But any course & training is better than none .

 

 

Later Chris