Survival and Emergency Preparedness

I see a lot of folks putting red dot optics on their pistols these days. My only experience with red dot optics is on our duty shotguns back in the 90's. They worked great for the intended purpose. Not sure on a defensive pistol. This was from David.

Response. Dave Clark, LAPD, was president of the Southwest Pistol League. Decades ago. People were shooting Pachmeyer .45 Colts with optics. Dave continued to shoot his 6 inch .38 special. He never won a competition. Other people, not me, made fun of him. One day there was a hostage situation outside the Foothill Division. Mr. Clark did the head shot and then retired from LAPD.

1. accuracy in shooting is a function of understanding human ergonomics and then being consistent in the shooting frame to achieve accuracy.
2. you do not need battery sights, pistol scopes or even plain pistol sights to be able to shoot consistently in low light conditions or smokey conditions when you are not obligated to identify the target. You have to think and engage your situational awareness.

I have 1-3 or 1-4x scopes on most of my hunting rifles and a few of my ARs just because my eyes aren't as good as they once were. At least one has an illuminated recticle. I have several rifles (ARs and 22s) with red dots. Mostly cheap but I have a couple Holosun and other mid level Red Dot Optics (RDOs) as well.

RDOs on pistols seem to be the thing these days but I don't have any pistols with them. I may some day if the continue to get smaller and smaller. They, even the micro RDOs still seem to be cumbersome. Perhaps if/when they came up with a truly holographic, i.e, without a protruding screen, I would consider one on a pistol.

Bino update:I have been giving away binos and bought a couple and I explain why I bought a couple.

Binos are like flashlights, firearms, pocket knives. One size does not fit all.

I am getting older. I walked the Khyber Pass a few days after my 31st birthday. Today, I am limping from taking a misstep a couple of weeks ago. I will survive only in a group populated by younger and unskilled people. I wanted simple, low priced, opics for the average person in a survival group. This is the guy who doesn't know how to clean a lens, that lens should have lens caps. The guy would not be a hunter or have ever served in the military. Just a static guy who would be able to see better and further than simply using his eyesight/ The guy would be under stress, out of shape and need something small.

One unit was a Bushnell Falcon 7 x 35 for $29. The other was a Bushnell Trophy 8 x 32 for $87.

I make the some recommendations that will save you time, money and frustration in the long run:

1. If you are in the market for just one pair of quality optics for yourself or your entire family, figure that you will buy a quality case that can store the optics, spare lens caps, a cleaning brush, cleaning papers and chemicals. Buy a pair of binos that can use an adapter and tripod and buy those accessories as well as a chest carry case.
2. if you know nothing about binos, find a "birding" website and look at the recommendations thereupon. A great pair of birder optics is going have great optics for most applications.