WillametteWill's Self Defense Lifestyle Book Review (Please post your own as well)

[WillametteWill]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while; thought I would post reviews for books, videos, and possibly other media (but mostly books) on topics pertaining to self-defense, personal protection, legal/moral/ethical considerations, and anything somewhat related. I may have started this thread, but all, please feel free to jump in with your comments, perspectives, and reviews of your own. I like to provide my students with recommended reading and resources to further their educational journey. So here we go...

Book Review:
Tactical Reality, An Uncommon Look at Common-Sense Firearms Training and Tactics
By Louis Awerbuck​

Maybe it's just me, but whether you have heard of or know much about Louis Awerbuck seems to depend on what circles in the self-defense shooting realm you follow. I've noticed some seem to not acknowledge his existence. After reading this book I know why...they are stealing his 20 plus year old material and calling it their own. (There is a lot of that going on but hey, that is an entirely different thread topic!) This book was first published in 1999, so some on this forum were not likely born at its writing. He died in 2014, nearly a decade ago. I still think many of his words and thoughts are vitally relevant today. Sure, some things have evolved over time and I think he would acknowledge this. Many of the GunTubers and newer instructors who like to "borrow" (to be polite) information from those who came before them (often without credit or recognition) seem to think innovators who revolutionized aspects of defensive training in the past decades were stagnant and old school, never evolved their training. This thought process is so misguided since they were the ones going against the grain with innovations during their prime. Sorry to rant, but this will likely be a relevant theme with some future reviews as well.

The book is actually a collection of short articles compiled into chapters. This makes it an easy read as each chapter is self-contained. Common sense is a superpower nowadays, those who have it now should wear a cape. When Awerbuck scribed these articles it was, common. You read many of the chapters, finishing thinking, "That made sense." One example that goes against some of the common grain (and some of the teaching back then) is he discusses not turning your flashlight off immediately after firing and goes on to explain why. He also discusses when it would be a good idea to turn it off. In short, he explains the "why," something often missing from instruction.

Awerbuck was not just a defensive pistol proponent but also a fan of the shotgun. He breaks down tactics and explains why certain actions are a bad idea (e.g., searching alone). In his chapter titled "Paring Down to the Training Basics," he has this gem of a quote,

"After nearly a half-century I think I've finally figured it out. Apparently there are two different types of gunfights. A basic fight requires virtually no preparatory training - merely a regimen of the elements of sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and tactics. An advanced gunfight, on the other hand, is a whole different kettle of fish. This latter situation requires that all participants rush around like a herd of turtles, employing extremely advanced techniques such as sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and tactics."​

Priceless.

If you would like an easy read that shares some reasonable, logical and well-presented thoughts on self-defense shooting and tactics I would recommend this book. There is a dry, South African sense of humor that drifts through the pages (as you can see from the above sample). I never had the opportunity to train with Awerbuck but I have trained with some who did, and it is evident. There is another book, More Tactical Reality, as well. Perhaps a review on this later.

The book is available on Amazon for $25 in paperback and it is also free if you have Kindle Unlimited. The format is different from typical Kindle books, more of a PDF-type format but you can still highlight and add notes, just a little harder to read. Other sellers may have it as well. Powells Portland? Seems to be out of stock...shocked. Not really.

Thanks for reading, please add your comments and reviews.

Cheers,

Will

Read More

 

[41mag]

Other sellers may have it as well. Powells Portland? Seems to be out of stock...shocked. Not really.

comment noted; While I haven't visited Powell's in over 10 years now, I used to frequent their establishment. It always amazed me that a facility that covered nearly a whole city block would have a firearm section maybe 1 shelf 3' wide. Period. Unless someone has more current improved tracking of the subject, there's probably better places. Although Powells had an impressive collection of used books.

 

[spookshack]

Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights: Lessons and Tales from a Modern-Day Gunfighter.
By Jim Cirillo

 

[WillametteWill]

Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights: Lessons and Tales from a Modern-Day Gunfighter.
By Jim Cirillo

Good one. In a technical sense, this book shows how we have evolved with tools and knowledge in this area. These folks (on the stake out squad) were involved in numerous gunfights so their mindset is interesting to hear about. Some of the ways they did things has certainly evolved, but I think the historical perspective is interesting to me anyway. Thanks @spookshack !

 

[titsonritz]

Since you named Louis Awerbuck, he wrote the forward for Jeff Cooper's "Principles of Personal Defense"...


Once upon a time I used to be regular reader/subscriber to Guns & Ammo Magazine. Every month when I pulled those pages out of the mail box, the first thing I did was to turn it over and open the back cover to see what the Gunner's Guru was going to share with me. Jeff Cooper's straight forward and eloquent writing style never ceased to educate and entertain. His passing was a tremendous loss to the firearms community, but his teachings and writings will never die nor loose their relevance, for they are truly timeless. No finer example exists then the immortal words he penned on the subject of fighting mindset in the pages of Principles of Personal Defense. I believe it is Cooper's shortest book, but don't let that fool you, it is a wealth of knowledge.

It had been nearly two decades, since I last read it. Some jerk borrowed my previous copy and never returned it. I recently replaced it and while I was reading it, I came to realize just how much impact it on my daily life; it was especially obvious on the subject of alertness. Just little things like how I never sit in the middle of the room in a public restaurant or pub, how I never put my back to the entrance without a mirror in front of me, how I never step blindly into or out of doors, how I take wide turns around corners, how I am always scanning my surroundings even when engaged in conversation. I've been asked, "What are you doing?" "Nothing, nothing at all", I'll reply with a slight smile. If you don't know you just don't know.

One of my very favorite quotes in the book is where Cooper is talking about anger and aggressiveness when faced with life treating situation, he states, "The foregoing is quite obviously not an approved outlook in current sociological circles. That is of no consequence. We are concerned here simply with survival. After we have arranged for our survival, we can discuss sociology." It just doesn't get any more straight up and truthful than that. If we don't survive the current situation nothing else matters, nothing. The entire book is full of such truisms.

In the forward, Louis Awerbuck claims "Principles of Personal Defense is like a twentieth-century Western Civilization equivalent of Musashi's seventeenth-century Book of Five Rings, it should be read, studied, and then periodically reread and restudied."

Jeff Cooper's Principles of Personal Defense are:

1. Alertness
2. Decisiveness
3. Aggressiveness
4. Speed
5. Coolness
6. Ruthlessness
7. Surprise

Learn them, study them, practice them, they just might save your ***.

Principles Personal Defense

 

[WillametteWill]

Thanks, @titsonritz , yes, this is a must-read. I try and re-read it every few years. My wife just finished it recently. Interestingly, Cooper wrote the Foward to Awerbuck's book. (Awerbuck had his own training company in the area but he was also affiliated with Gunsite.) Jeff Cooper's "Principles of Personal Defense" makes a great gift to friends and family who need a starting point for personal awareness.

 

[WillametteWill]

Book Review:
The Gift of Fear
Be Gavin de Becker​

After reading the book a few years back, I decided to listen to a somewhat updated Audible version for this review. For anyone not familiar with Gavin de Becker, he and his firm have been providing executive protection and security consulting since the late 1970s. His alleged client list (he does not appear to be one to brag but the word gets out) includes Jeff Bezos, the Harry and Meghan duo (at the reported cost of £7,000 per day or about $10,000), and countless A-List Hollywood types along with plenty of others most of us have not heard of. He is the real deal in this field.

His research and threat assessment programs are used by governments, police, and many other entities. This seems to be his strong suit, figuring out the threats first, as opposed to just providing muscle.

The Gift of Fear was first published in 1997 with the Audible version published in 2021. He states (GDB narrates the book and has a good voice for the job) that he did not conduct a complete revision, but he does add some updates along the way.

In short, read (or listen to) this book. There are many threat assessment tools that are helpful and useable for the average person. An overriding takeaway is that we can use true healthy fear to avoid danger in many cases. Although he does not go into this, I find the concepts are aligned with the research of Gary Klein and the "recognition primed decision" theory that I deeply follow and teach. His information on threats from spouses and other intimate relationships could help us keep ourselves or our loved ones out of danger. He cites many examples of relatable situations along with plenty more that are just not part of a "normal person's" world.

And that is where I find the negatives of the book. My wife is not Taylor Swift and I'm far from Brad Pitt. Although many of the concepts may be relevant, most of us do not enjoy the resources of being whisked off to a safe house by an armed and trained team (one of the situations). I also find that he downplays the fears of reasonable mortals as not fear but worry (there is a difference which he explains). For example, he says that if he gets on an elevator and there is a lone female she should not worry. He then points out details like he got on at a different floor, pushed a button to get off differently from her, and appears to not be paying attention to her. Sorry, mortals may not pick up on these cues like someone who has been doing this for 40+ years. If my wife gets a creep vibe at all, I hope she gets off the elevator without any regret. Heck, I've not gotten on elevators before because of who was in them. These bits do not discount the other value in the book.

Another example is a woman who "fears" walking to her car after work, alone, at night, in a parking garage. Okay, I understand that it may not be true "fear" she feels, but stop doing it! Seriously. It's simply putting yourself in a bad tactical position.

De Becker has been hit pretty hard as an anti-gun person (by me as well) and this is actually one area of the book that he did update, including the original version and a 2021 update in the Audible version. In the original book, he lobbies for gun manufacturers to be held liable and sued for making dangerous guns that are designed to kill people and are unsafe for children. We should be using smart gun technology (not noting in the 25 years since his book was initially published little has been developed in this area) and locks and honestly says a lot of stupid stuff. He tries to walk this back in the 2021 update coming out a pro 2A (in my reading at a tepid level). But he still emphasizes the dangers of having guns around and doesn't really give credit to those who choose to own guns to protect themselves and their families. While his company surrounds A-Listers with…guns. He gives one example and basically says the gun owner should lose the extra weight he is carrying because that is more likely to kill him than a bad guy. Perhaps true, but this is not an either/or decision. It comes across as arrogant to me. Readers can make up their own minds regarding this area of the book.

Don't let this spoil the true benefits and lessons from the book as a whole. The early part of the book has valuable takeaways that I think many will find useful. Yet I do believe that having a questioning mind as to what parts will work for your lifestyle is healthy.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while; thought I would post reviews for books, videos, and possibly other media (but mostly books) on topics pertaining to self-defense, personal protection, legal/moral/ethical considerations, and anything somewhat related. I may have started this thread, but all, please feel free to jump in with your comments, perspectives, and reviews of your own. I like to provide my students with recommended reading and resources to further their educational journey. So here we go...

Book Review:
Tactical Reality, An Uncommon Look at Common-Sense Firearms Training and Tactics
By Louis Awerbuck​

Maybe it's just me, but whether you have heard of or know much about Louis Awerbuck seems to depend on what circles in the self-defense shooting realm you follow. I've noticed some seem to not acknowledge his existence. After reading this book I know why...they are stealing his 20 plus year old material and calling it their own. (There is a lot of that going on but hey, that is an entirely different thread topic!) This book was first published in 1999, so some on this forum were not likely born at its writing. He died in 2014, nearly a decade ago. I still think many of his words and thoughts are vitally relevant today. Sure, some things have evolved over time and I think he would acknowledge this. Many of the GunTubers and newer instructors who like to "borrow" (to be polite) information from those who came before them (often without credit or recognition) seem to think innovators who revolutionized aspects of defensive training in the past decades were stagnant and old school, never evolved their training. This thought process is so misguided since they were the ones going against the grain with innovations during their prime. Sorry to rant, but this will likely be a relevant theme with some future reviews as well.

The book is actually a collection of short articles compiled into chapters. This makes it an easy read as each chapter is self-contained. Common sense is a superpower nowadays, those who have it now should wear a cape. When Awerbuck scribed these articles it was, common. You read many of the chapters, finishing thinking, "That made sense." One example that goes against some of the common grain (and some of the teaching back then) is he discusses not turning your flashlight off immediately after firing and goes on to explain why. He also discusses when it would be a good idea to turn it off. In short, he explains the "why," something often missing from instruction.

Awerbuck was not just a defensive pistol proponent but also a fan of the shotgun. He breaks down tactics and explains why certain actions are a bad idea (e.g., searching alone). In his chapter titled "Paring Down to the Training Basics," he has this gem of a quote,

"After nearly a half-century I think I've finally figured it out. Apparently there are two different types of gunfights. A basic fight requires virtually no preparatory training - merely a regimen of the elements of sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and tactics. An advanced gunfight, on the other hand, is a whole different kettle of fish. This latter situation requires that all participants rush around like a herd of turtles, employing extremely advanced techniques such as sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and tactics."​

Priceless.

If you would like an easy read that shares some reasonable, logical and well-presented thoughts on self-defense shooting and tactics I would recommend this book. There is a dry, South African sense of humor that drifts through the pages (as you can see from the above sample). I never had the opportunity to train with Awerbuck but I have trained with some who did, and it is evident. There is another book, More Tactical Reality, as well. Perhaps a review on this later.

The book is available on Amazon for $25 in paperback and it is also free if you have Kindle Unlimited. The format is different from typical Kindle books, more of a PDF-type format but you can still highlight and add notes, just a little harder to read. Other sellers may have it as well. Powells Portland? Seems to be out of stock...shocked. Not really.

Thanks for reading, please add your comments and reviews.

Cheers,

Will

I met Louis, pronounced Louie, for a few weeks when he worked at Gunsite with Cooper. Really cool guy.

 

[huzar]

Louis Awerbuck is one of a handful of trainers that I wish I could have had a chance to learn from (the other two are Pat Rogers and William Aprill).

@WillametteWill , have you read any of Rory Miler's books, like "Conflict Communications", "Medidations on Violence", or "Facing Violence"?

 

[WillametteWill]

@WillametteWill , have you read any of Rory Miler's books, like "Conflict Communications", "Medidations on Violence", or "Facing Violence"?

I have not yet but on my reading list. Looking forward to it. I mirror your comments on Awerbuck, Roger and Aprill as well. Much to learn from those three. I would like to get to the Pat Rogers Memorial Round Up at Gunsite sometime as it sounds like many who worked with him are present.

 

[Member 83510]

Book Review:
The Gift of Fear
Be Gavin de Becker​

I have to double recommend The Gift of Fear. It is an absolute masterpiece and is written by basically one of the foremost experts in the modern corporate security space. I read the book recently after having it recommended to me for years and I do not regret taking the time to read it one bit. He was actually on Joe Rogan's podcast a few months back and he actually turned out to be pretty conservative, at least in regards to the handling of COVID, which was a surprise to me because someone reading his book would likely walk away with the impression that he is at least center-left politically based on some of the personal views he espouses in the book (not that there is anything wrong with holding such views). Regardless, the information in the book is quality and his list of pre-incident indicators are pretty dang accurate - at least based on my experience working with difficult people in security and law enforcement. At a minimum, get this book for someone who you think may not be security conscious and lives their life thinking "oh, it will never happen to me!" because Gavin de Becker does an excellent job in his book at showing these people the gamble they are taking by living their life like that.

 

[huzar]

I would like to get to the Pat Rogers Memorial Round Up at Gunsite sometime as it sounds like many who worked with him are present.

Yeah, I know a lot of the folks who come instruct at the Roundup, and was hoping that this year would be the year I would actually get to go, but other training priorities got in the way and I'll have to push it out 'till next year.

 

[ma96782]

The Essential Book.



A preview for you.....

Aloha, Mark

 

[Member 83510]

Going to hijack the thread to give a recommendation to the book Verbal Judo by George Thompson. You are more likely to need verbal skills than a firearm, fighting skills, or less lethal option such as pepper spray. I read the book once and plan to revisit it again in the future to really try and soak in what it teaches. At times it feels as if the book is a lot of war stories from an old cop but I think overall it is useful and makes a good read for anybody whose never had the chance to obtain some sort of conflict de-escalation training. The author states that there is 5 universal truths to human interaction which transcends race, age, culture, sex, etc;

1) People feel the need to be respected.
2) People would rather be asked than be told.
3) People have a desire to know why.
4) People prefer to have options over threats.
5) People want to have a second chance.

He expands on all 5 of these lessons and provides the logic along with real life examples throughout the book. I can attest that I've been able to structure my confrontations at work in such a way to hit as many of the 5 universal truths as possible with great success. Of course it doesn't work on everybody, especially someone who may have an altered mental state due to drug usage or out-of-control mental health issues, but it seems to work quite well on most reasonable people. The book can be had for like $12 on Amazon and is only like 150 pages long so you can easily knock it out in a few days. If that is still too much to ask, I consider watching some recordings of Thompson's lectures online. Unfortunately he passed away some years ago so there isn't a wide selection of videos with him speaking about the concepts but his legacy lives on in his writing.

 

[WillametteWill]

Going to hijack the thread to give a recommendation to the book Verbal Judo by George Thompson.

Not a hijack at all...this is what I hoped would happen. Figured I wasn't the only person on the forum who reads, lol.

Thanks for the post. My department, back in the day when this was new, sent some of our officers who they though might benefit from the information. Many did. As I look over the primary concepts they include what many of us did by nature (so we didn't get sent to the training). You are correct in that they don't work for everyone but it gives you a starting point. Thanks for posting the information!

 

[Member 84438]

I have to second the recommendations for Verbal Judo and The Gift of Fear. I think both should be introductory reading for anybody interested in learning about personal protection and self preservation.

I want to make an additional recommendation for the book Extreme Privacy: What it Takes to Disappear by Michael Bazzell. The book is exactly what it sounds like - how to make yourself disappear from the world around you. Depending on your threat model, removing evidence of your existence from all public sources is paramount to ensuring personal safety. I don't follow the teachings of the book to a tee but I use a good chunk of what's taught to remain anonymous in everyday life so anyone wanting to do me or my family harm is going to have a really hard time finding us to carry out any ill intent.

 

[WillametteWill]

I have to second the recommendations for Verbal Judo and The Gift of Fear. I think both should be introductory reading for anybody interested in learning about personal protection and self preservation.

Thanks for the post and welcome to the fourm!

 

[WillametteWill]

Book Review:
Shooting to Live - With the One-Hand Gun
Captain W.E. Fairbairn & Captain E.A. Sykes​

And you thought they just came up with a knife design. Something came up while I was conducting research referencing Fairbairn and Sykes training Shanghai Police during the interwar period (between WWI & WWII) and it inspired me to follow a rabbit hole. Enter purchasing the 1942 published wee book from the pair. This small book is less than 100 pages with illustrations (as in drawings) is a quick read, and I'm glad I did.

This book was published over 80 years ago and many of the concepts date back far before this, likely about 100 years. Obviously much has changed, evolved and improved with research, better equipment and for a myriad of other reasons. Yet it was stunning to me how these two men were ahead of their time related to some of their training concepts.

What initially spurred my research was a discussion on the concept of "Israeli" carry. S&F were using the technique in Shanghai 30 years prior to Israel becoming a nation. The book details their training recommendations for shooters, obviously outdated, but still an interesting read. When comparing some of the practices of the FBI in the 1950s into the 70s, S&F seemed to be ahead of them decades prior. Using dummy rounds in semiautos to practice malfunction clearing was part of their training and discussing that a trembling grip (crush grip as taught by some) will not destroy defensive accuracy at typical self defense encounter distances.

The duo made a very clear distinction between target shooting and self defense shooting about 50 years prior to American Law Enforcement began to understand the importance of this. Bulletproof vests for LEOs are even discussed in the book. The importance of training on surprise targets on a non-standard (IPSC/IDPA style) range is discussed with sketches as to how these ranges should be designed is included (along with ventilation for indoor ranges to allow more practice in bad weather). They understood low light encounters were the likely environments for meeting armed bad people. And they moved, so shooting at moving targets (lateral, approaching, at angles) is recommended. They advocated for 50% hits on man-sized targets for qualification...so 30% higher than current LEO hits (sorry). For their combat style shooting, they talk about conducting courses where students go through an obstacle course before engaging the targets to simulate, not stress, but shooting after pursuing someone. They have an entire chapter titled, "Practical Pistol Ranges."

They studied all parts of their craft and had a real-world laboratory to help evaluate information. They found duty ammo was reliable when carried for about four months and then it needed to be rotated out (ammo of this era and conditions). S&F had the benefit of knowledge from 666 armed encounters in their force over 12 years. 42 officers were killed with 260 suspects dying, 100 officers injured along with 193. During that time, in that location, a 6 to 1 ratio was likely very good.

There are plenty of areas where we will all cringe as to their teaching...with 100 years of hindsight available. But to understand these are some of the giants whose shoulders many are standing upon with modern training techniques, I found the book a very worthy read for a historical perspective on the craft. There are many "big name" trainers, especially on the interwebs, that have to come up with something new and bash everything different so they look good (that would often be considered narcissistic) instead of focusing on benefitting their student's learning. They might consider taking a page from these folks.

Stay tuned for a book that I thought I was going to hate, from a person that I did not think I would like, and was completely wrong on both accounts. Engaging other perspectives is healthy!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

In regards to old books with old techniques ....
Often those techniques and methods still work well ...when used with firearms of the same time period or replicas thereof.
And just 'cause it's old...don't mean that it won't work today or do as it was intended for back in the day.
Andy

 

[Cerberus Group]

In regards to old books with old techniques ....
Often those techniques and methods still work well ...when used with firearms of the same time period or replicas thereof.
And just 'cause it's old...don't mean that it won't work today or do as it was intended for back in the day.
Andy

I agree, rereading books from Jordan, Cirillo, and McGivern are still holding for revolver shooting.