Kini SafeAlert

One of the cool things we found at SHOTshow this year was the Kini SafeAlert. It's a movement detector that fits in your small safes, or on a gun lock that sends a text via wifi to a chosen phone if movement is detected.

What I found cool about this is that it's small enough to fit in a stopbox, or gun case. It's a great way to know if someone is messing with your guns or gun cases. I keep my guns locked in a gun case, but not necessarily a gun safe, though it certainly can be used in a gun safe as well. Just attach it to the inside of the door, and you'll be notified when the door is opened. 

Does it prevent unauthorized users from accessing your gun? No, but it's part of a multi-layered security system. Can it be a deterrent? Of course, the same as cameras.

I was excited to tell people about this, and a coworker asked why I'd use this instead of a camera. It's a legitimate question. This can be used in conjunction with a security camera. 

I'll tell you why I personaly don't want to use a camera: there are enough cameras in my life, I don't want to install any in my house. Essentially every moment in public is lived in view of a camera, and one of the reasons I live rurally is that I like my solitude. If I wanted to install cameras around my house and property, they'd be to watch the animals.

Being a shooter, I immediately thought of all of the ways I could implement it in my gun storage, but there are so many more uses for it. Jewelry, alcohol, medications, etc. You're only limited by your imagination. 

I've ordered one from Amazon, but you can also order from their website.

I look forward to trying this for myself in the near future and giving a full review. 

Less Lethal Options

 One thing I noticed was a marked increase in less lethal options offered. Mostly, I just shake my head and move on, because the offerings are usually craptastic "tasers" that aren't tasers at all and that require the person to be in physical contact with the bad guy.

There were definitely a few of those this year. Noteably, an unbrella and a hairbrush. Yeah, some of this stuff is hilarious ins a pathetic way, and I would never recommend any of that shit. Get yourself a good can of pepper spray and learn to use it, instead of reyling on gimmicks.

(I apologize for my inability to insert the picture correctly from my phone) 

But this year, in addition to the  typical gimmicky stuff, I saw a lot of pepper ball guns designed for the civilian market. While a large part of me believes that if you're going to carry, you need to carry a real gun, I also have to acknowledge that the pepper ball guns do have merit. In fact, I shot a couple at Industry Day and had a blast. They were just plain fun to shoot and have zero recoil, and they were surprisngly accurate. I wouldn't want to be hit with one!

I think these may be a good option for people who live in non-permissive states, or are not leagally allowed to own/carry a firearm for self-protection. (At least for now, until they enact legislation against these, too.)

I do also believe that if someone chooses to carry a pepper ball gun, rather than an actual fierarm, they need to put in the same amount of work (if not more) that a firearm owner would put in.  The user needs to understand the limitations of pepper balls, as well as how and when to deploy them.

GunDiva's SHOTShow (non-pew) Favorites

As usual, there are far too many things that we have seen to write about them all, so as I was going through my notes I decided to choose a favorite item from each day. 

Day 1

For many years, I taught, and was Associate Dean, in a healthcare program. I still have a passion for teaching, and love teaching advanced bleeding control classes. Some of my favorite booths at the show are the trauma-based ones. I was absolutely beside myself to find True Clot. This is a simulated blood product that acts so much like real blood that it's eerie. Their entire catalog of training supplies is a trauma instructor's dream.

Day 2

GunDude Jay and I are avid hikers, so the outdoor portion of the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Tradeshow always interests me. Our packs are pretty well supplied, but I'm always looking for ways to improve our gear.

Katadyn introduced an updated version of their BeFree personal filtered water bottles that I wanted to check out. We currently carry LifeStraws, but I'm not keen on having to basically lie down at a a water source and drink out of it. Plus, with the LifeStraw, there's no way to draw and store additional water, whereas with the Katadyn water bottles, you can store and carry a liter of water.

I primarily was interested in the personal water bladders, but as we spoke with the Katadyn rep, I realized that their personal pump was a much better option for us. It's small and lightweight, but more importantly, it can hook to our larger water bladders in our hiking packs.

Day 3

Two words: Smokeless Range

Last year, while at the DryFireMag booth, I learned about the Smokeless Range, which is a fun training tool from Laser Ammo involving the DFM, a laser cartidge, and a projector. I intended to buy it last year, but never got around to it. I'm actually glad I didn't buy it last year, because this year's version is much bolstered. It's about $1,200 for the software, two DFMs, two laser inserts, and a throw camera. In looking at the Laser Ammo website, there are other options available, with a wider price range.

I regularly use the Ti firearms trainer in class, and while the Smokeless Range doesn't have the depth of training for professionals, it appears to be an excellent home system, one I'm looking forward to.

We have one more day on the show floor, and who knows what I'll fall in love with then.

Industry Day at the Range 2025

Today was cold and blustery, which seems to be the norm for Range Day.

Every year, I'm excited to go, but my excitement quickly diminishes once I'm around people. It only takes one group of self-important media to take the excitement right out of me. 

My list of guns I wanted to see/try was pretty small, but Mez's list was a bit longer. (I'll let him talk about what he shot in his own post.) I did follow him into the KelTec booth to try the P57. Color me not impressed. We were given five rounds, loaded manually, not using the stripper clip, which was the first red flag for me. I specifically asked for a demonstration of the stipper clip, and just got an explanation of it. I really wanted to see it in action, but the guy working the line prefered to load the gun manually.  The second red flag, and nail in the coffin, for me was that I had THREE failures to go into battery. 3/5 rounds FAILED TO LOAD. If it happened only once, I would have chalked it up to user error, but three times (after checking my grip, and recoil management to make sure I wasn't limp-wristing it) was a 60% failure rate. I will say that Mez had a 0% failure rate, and he shot the same gun immediately before me.

I was excited about shooting the Ruger RXM, because, well Dave Spaulding is pretty excited about it and I respect the hell out of him. I handled it at my logal gun shop right before I left, I was pretty underwhelmed with it, but was still optimistic about shooting it. After shooting it, I'm still pretty underwhelmed. I had high hopes for it, thinking that it would be a good entry-level gun for new shooters.  I like that it accepts Glock magazines and that it'll fit a Glock holster, so it is a good starter gun for people who want to go in the Glock direction. The price is also right, about $450. I don't hate it, but I'm not in love with it.

               BioFire Safe gun

The gun that I can't get out of my mind was one that wasn't even on my radar. Mez pointed it out. He saw "biofire" and said he wanted to check it out, so I tagged along. I'm glad I did, because the gun mostly horrifies me, and I'm ashamed to say it was developed in Colorado. It's a "smart" gun, operates only by the owner, identified either by fingerprint or facial recognition. The owner can authorize four other users by adding them to their account. Because the gun only works for up to five authorized users, it is exempt from the Colorado safe storage laws, according to the manufacturer. I understand that they're wanting to fill a very specific self-defense niche and I respect them for that. 

However, I see way more drawbacks to the gun than advantages:

-it's bulky

-the battery life is only 1 week - 1 month, depending on use, therefore it is recommended that owners keep it plugged in at all times to keep the battery topped up. What happens if the electricity goes out? We live rurally, and extended electrical outages are not uncommon.

-should the owner injure their shooting hand in an attack, unless they've set up a second profile for their off hand, the backup verification is via facial recognition. That seems like a great idea, unless the owner's face has also been beaten.

- since it's dependent on all of the electrical components to work, what happens in the case of an EMP? 

- It's expensive, about $1400. GunDude Jay summarized it nicely when he said that it's a $400 gun with $1000 of electronics.

We did see/shoot a few other guns, but we were pretty over the cold and wind and cut the day short. 

Off to SHOTShow we go!

We're packing our bags and heading out to Las Vegas again for the 2025 SHOTshow.

Between GunDude Jay, Mez, and I, we should have brief posts daily beginning on Monday, January 20.

I hope we haven't lost too many followers during our hiatus, and we're looking forward to bring some new content.

Off-Body Carry, Part 4 - List of Instructors

Vicki Farnam with Drew

Click here for Part I - The Basics

Click here for Part II - Purses

Click here for Part III - Reflection

There aren't a lot of us DTI certified instructors yet, but we're working on it. There may be other off-body carry instructor certifications out there that I don't (yet) know about. Please heed my warning from Part I that this is a completely different skill than typical on-body concealed carry, and make sure your instructor is well trained in it. Not all concealed carry instructors have any experience in this area. If you are a member of TWAW or AGAG, check with your leaders to see if they are a certified instructor, or can point you in the right direction.

• Shawntel W (thegundivas@hotmail.com) and Andrew B (drew2xtap@gmail.com)
• Fort Collins, CO www.2xtapfa.com
• Katie J  and Kimberly K 618-931-4867
• Pontoon Beach, IL www.sts-armory.com
• Suzanne F
• Nunn, CO www.ladyfirellc.com
• Cindy S
• Galveston, TX www.galvestongal.com
• Wendi L
• Casper, WY www.wyogun.com
• Marty R (firststeptrainingllc@gmail.com)
• Midlothian, VA https://www.facebook.com/firststepsafetyanddefensetrainingllc
• Dee A (DAFASTRAINING@gmail.com)
• California
• Gloria K 434-9423833
• Appomattox, VA www.blacktargetfirearms.com
• Lissa F (mrswillhike@outlook.com)
• Oregon
• Donna A 907-745-1133
• Palmer, Alaska www.pointblankak.com 

Off-Body Carry, Part 3 - Reflection

Click here for Part I - The Basics.

Click here for Part II - Purses

I realize I sounded a bit like a whiner in Part I when I was talking about how the different closure ripped up my cuticles or knuckles. I know, in the heat of the moment, I'm unlikely to feel any cuts to my hands, and the important thing is to get to my gun and get a good master grip. It might seem like a silly thing to take into consideration when looking at a purse, but it's worth thinking about. Let me explain: in order to draw effectively, you must practice. If practicing causes physical damage/pain, guess what you're not going to do? You got it, practice.

I've been on a weight loss journey for the past year, so I've shrunk out of my Hip Hugger and haven't wanted to spend the money to buy a new one, since it's likely I was going to have to replace it again. Being summer, I lived in workout clothes, which meant I wasn't wearing pants or shorts with belt loops for an IWB or OWB holster. Without a belly band that fit, I'm ashamed to say, my daily carry habit dwindled to zero. It was rare that I had a gun with me.

I've never been one to carry a purse (other than to the movie theater, to carry my 'illegal' candy), so it was a change. It's still a conscious effort for me to remember to grab my purse on the way out the door. However, I love that I not only have my gun, but I have my pepper spray, flashlight, knife, and IFAK. I like having "options between a harsh word and a gun".

Vicki pointed out that in the winter, when we carry on-body, sometimes the gun is harder to access because of all of our layers, but with a purse, we can just slip it on over our coat. Living in Colorado, it's not unusual to wear at least three layers: shirt, vest, coat. I'd always leave my vest unzipped and only snap my coat so I had easy access to my gun if I needed it. When the wind is blowing, that's not very comfortable. It wasn't something that I'd put much thought into, but I'm looking forward to being able to zip up my winter coat this year. 

I intended to carry the Slim purse for a month and then switch to the bigger one (the Tour bag), but I like the Slim so well I haven't made the switch yet. 

I've practiced until I'm comfortable with the Slim, but haven't spent enough time with the Tour to be entirely confident with it. It's big, but the thing that is a bit concerning to me is that the gun pocket is the middle pocket, and I've found that the zipper takes a bit more focus to find and unclasp than the Slim. If I overload the large pocket, which is closest to the body, it tends to lean outward, semi-obscuring the zipper on the gun pocket.

Part of me wants to say that I won't make the change to full-time purse carry, but a big part of me is calling myself a liar. It's just so easy, and I understand why so many women do it. I do feel more comfortable with on-body carry, but find that I am far more consistent in carrying in a purse. I don't have to dress around the gun, or make sure that I am wearing pants with a belt. Not to mention, urban camouflage is kinda awesome. No one looks twice at a woman's purse.

There are drawbacks: 

1) You must keep your purse under your control at all times. This means not leaving it on your chair, or in a shopping cart, or laying about where unauthorized people can access it (not just kids, but anyone who shouldn't have access to a gun).

2) With a lot of practice, a sub-two second draw is possible. I'm not sure, as a middle-aged, unassuming woman that I look like enough of a threat to need a sub-two second draw. Though with a purse being such good urban camouflage, it is easy enough to fake as though you're getting your money/wallet/whatever out of the purse while accessing your gun.

3) Purse snatching is a thing. Carrying cross-body makes it more difficult to snatch a purse, but it also "attaches" you to the purse snatcher if they attempt it anyway. Being willing/able to fight for control of the purse is necessary. It's not just your ID and money in there, but your gun, and you must fight as hard to keep control of your purse as you would if someone were trying to disarm you while carrying on-body.

4) Kathy Jackson of The Cornered Cat had a valid concern about the zipper "lock":

My concern with locking zippers is that they are a safety issue. Not in terms of getting to the gun in a hurry (although there certainly is that) but more in terms of human behavior: people tend to leave their purse places they should not leave the purse, because “it’s locked“.

But it might not be locked.

And there are other dangerous things inside a purse, other than the gun.

It just tends to result in people being less aware of safety than they otherwise would be.

I've been careful to put the work "lock" into quotations to imply that it's not really a lock and does not magically turn your purse into a gun safe, but Kathy's absolutely right about using the term "lock". The two zippers that hook together should probably be called a zipper clasp. (Clasp: (noun) a device with interlocking parts used for fastening things together.)

Despite the drawbacks (there is a give-and-take with any type of carry), I'm two months in to carrying my gun in a purse, and I have to tell you, I love it.