REDACTED Culture Cast

Talk Back to MeWhen it comes to gear, play the long game. When it comes to training, get what you can, when you can get it. When it comes to practice, it's better to start with what you have, than wait for the perfect opportunity. Gear, Training, and Practice are three sore subjects when it comes to gun culture. How is this the case for a community that is centered on the use of firearms as a potential tool for self defense? All three quickly become a point of friction between differing opinions and the egos attached to them.But if we could put all that aside, and if we separate the WHY from the HOW when it comes to gear, training, and practice, how does our perspective change and how to we move forward to a better future, whether as individuals or as a community?This episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeThe difference between what can be called the Gun Culture, the Industry, and those in support of the Second Amendment isn't a single overlapping circle of a Venn Diagram. Instead, we have disparate groups of Gun Culture, a market space of the Firearm Industry, and the broadest term of 2nd Amendment Supporters. Peter Ildefonsa brings all of this to the table in a grand conversation on the differences and similarities and overlaps between the three.Follow Peter Ildefonsa on Instagram at @peterildeonsaOr on YouTube at @peterildefonsa His website and work can be found at www.peterildefonsa.comThis episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeIn violence, as in war, two concept stand in tension with one another: proportionality and utility. McMahan identifies one understanding of proportionality as "a constraint on action that causes harm." (Killing in War Pg 19). Utility, on the other hand, often functions as the context for informing one part of strategy, tactics, and techniques. We prioritize actions of these sorts that produce the desired outcome.As such, the tension that exists between them is that they both must be accomplished or accommodated for the action to be considered moral, and further, both can be corrupted. Just as utility can lead to a might-makes-right worldview, and easily justify the absolute eradication of a warring people group, so the idea of proportionality is corrupted if we cease to believe some of those in conflict are less than human. One part of the solution, or the developed skill of managing this tension comes from training. As we have seen in Gun Culture, those who train are rarely, if ever, the ones who participate in senseless violence. It is the untrained, who are both quick to call for the death of their accused oppressors, and it is the untrained who respond to a smaller conflict with overwhelming force. This episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeSelf Defense isn't what it used to be. Jiu jitsu has become mainstream. But what if you were to discover that no-gi training wasn't as realistic as you wished? Ruben Alverez traces a tale of growing up in the world of Jiu Jitsu, only to discover it wasn't all that he needed. ECQC or Extreme Close Quarters Concepts takes the idea of a violent encounter to a more personal level. It's no longer about how fast your concealed draw time is. Rather, Ruben illustrates how a lethal weapon changes the way people think and act when in a violent bind. Follow Ruben Alverez on Instagram at @paradox_trainingAnd get Caught up on the courses at paradox-training.comThis episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeWhat if the true LARP is the assumption that we can be credited as being part of the community without participation? When the term LARP (Live Action Role Playing) is used as an epitaph, it accuses the target of living in a fantasy. With analysis, we look at what it is that is considered dishonorable about so-called LARP-ing. What we find out is that many of us may be LARPing even if we're not running around in the woods in full kit with the boys. And it begs out another question: what would we do, or who would we be, if we had all the resources and gear to train at the highest level we can imagine. If we had the money and time to train to the level of CAG or SEAL Team 6, without being there, how would. we look at that?This episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeRudyard Kipling's poem "If" often finds home on the wall and in the minds of great men. It leads the reader through a series of character traits that make a man, opening with the line "If you can keep your head when all about you       Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    But make allowance for their doubting too; "Throughout history, mankind has asked what it is that makes a man truly a man. Sometimes this question boils down to metaphysics, asking what it is about a being that makes them a man. In recent times even biology has been called into question, albeit comically. Yet the most personal context of this question often eats at the hearts of men as they live their lives in search of and fulfillment of the answer. The concept of composure has found itself baked into mens fashion, and different eras of masculinity. We find something truly great about a man who can keep a cool head under pressure, and have even seen the rise of attacking that point of vulnerability to set a trap. This episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeThere's more to being a warfighter than shooting. On the US Army webpage it is stated that the Ranger Battalions encompass the "Big 5 Philosophy" of Marksmanship, Physical Training, Medical Training, Small-Unit Tactics, and Mobility. Breaking down each of these, we look at what they might entail. In order to put to rest the cultural conversation in modern gun culture which pits one discipline of shooting against a profession, in this episode we walk through what the big 5 entails, and what might come beyond that for the individual citizen. This episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeThe George Floyd Riots were a strange time. On the ground, the narrative level politics fell to the wayside. Information Warfare was not about which political party was effectively harnessing the energy of the street, but about if their house was going to be looted or burned down in the next few hours. We live in the post information age, were it's no longer about access to information that is bottlenecked by the limitations of the printing press, publishing houses, and newspapers, but our ability to evaluate information. Intel, in its most basic definition, is information relevant to your goals. Information that leads to the accomplishment of what you seek. Instead of a limited stream of small pits of information, we are met with a flood. Collection of informationEvaluation of informationDissemination of informationThis episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeWhich is better? To Bug Out or to Harden Your Position?Which is better? Train in Recce or CQB?Which is better? A DMR or a MK18?Which is better? 9mm or 45acp?These questions represent different decision that go awry when we attempt to answer them at the wrong level of analysis. There is a strange hope that, if it were to come to brass tacks, the good men would do what is right. Yet conversations like those presented above are seemingly less concerned good men doing what is right, but instead, mere survival.Enjoy.This Episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllcSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc

Talk Back to MeSure, we all hate name dropping and clout chasing, especially in Gun Culture, but why? what is it about this kind of activity that we find so distasteful, and should we?It's not good enough to complain about the subject, and although it takes a little time to get into it, in this episode we compare it to writing an academic paper. It's not good enough to simply cite well respected authors, just as it's not good enough to know well respected people within the community. It is another thing entirely to be respected by them, and further, to contribute to the body of knowledge in a meaningful way.So, buckle down and let's complain less about ambiguous people, and spend more time improving our position in this tumultuous world. This Episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM shop for those looking to bring excellence to the market. Their Minnesota-based shop builds and cuts parts out of U.S.-sourced materials. Their gunsmith tools, custom firearms, and capabilities can be found at www.obsidianarms.comFollow Obsidian Arms on Instagram at @obsidianarmsSupport the REDACTED Culture Cast at redactedculture.locals.comSSP and boutique products at redactedllc.comFollow us on Instagram at @redactedllc