Clint Emerson

Learn how to prepare for a bad situation from retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson

Longtime readers at the Loadout Room will recognize Clint Emerson as the author of the 100 Deadly Skills series of books, which are an invaluable tool for anyone that prizes self reliance and being prepared. For those who may not have run across Emerson’s work in the past, he is one of a few professional war fighters on the planet that has managed to succesfully make the leap from operating to providing realistic, pragmatic instruction and guidance on how to live a safer life in a world that seems hell bent on violence.

Being prepared, aware, and vigilante is more than half the battle, and in this video Emerson did for Wired, you can learn how to be better at each.

Feature image captured from included YouTube video

Dissecting 100 Deadly Skills | Improvised Sap

We’ve all been there, stuck in situations where we simply can’t carry a weapon. Government office, school, airport, or simply a rigidly enforced no weapons policy. Even worse, let’s say you flew to an exotic location and the entire country is basically a gun free zone for you. What happens when you need a weapon? Well, you make one. You can’t take the 80 lower route, you gotta go more caveman. Today we are going to Dissect the deadly skills and make an improvised sap. A sap is a powerful weapon, and it happens to be damn easy to make one.

What You’ll Need For an Improvised Sap

Fishing Weight 4 to 8 ounces
Bandana

The fishing weight is easy to find, but really could be anything that weighs roughly the same weight and is small enough to be wrapped in a bandana. * ounces is going to be your best bet. I listed 4 to 8 because a 4-ounce fishing weight could say fit on a key ring as an ornamental and unnoticed keychain. A six-ounce is actually what I used for testing because I found it easy to pocket and still be strong enough to break cause serious damage.

How to Build an improvised Sap

The first step in your improvised sap construction is to lay out the bandana and leave it fully opened.

Place the weight in the middle

Then pull one corner of the bandana to the other, forming a triangle.

Starting at the “top” of the triangle you want to start rolling the bandana inwards. Do so until you reach weight. At this point fold one end over the weight that’s in the center. If you are in a hurry you can deploy the weapon as is.

If you have another ten seconds you can tie the two ends into a knot and form one solid handle.

How well does this 99 cents improvised spa work? Well, I took it against a coconut. According to the 100 Deadly Skills Deadly Deck card a coconut is 10 times harder than the human head. I can’t find much to back that claim up, but I did find the study in the US National Library of Medicine that states:

Our results have shown that coconut can be used as an inexpensive screening model of the human skull, but only to determine fractures made by tools with a small striking surface.

Our improvised sap fits that description well.

Target: Coconut

As the video illustrates a few strikes from the sap to the coconut was enough to split and crush it. There are a few things to note.

One I didn’t use my full body weight behind the blows. If I was using my improvised sap in an actual fight I’d be swinging it more like a punch, with my hips rotating the sap towards my enemy. This would put a lot more force behind the blow, and likely deal a lot more damage.

Second, in the coconuts defense, it had nowhere to go. My work table was basically pinching it. If I struck a human the head could move from the force of the blow. This could potentially lessen some of the effects.

Overall, I think my improvised sap could take someone out a fight with a blow or two to the head. Easy blows to the body, especially near a bone, would be incredibly painful.l It’d be a better option than a fist.

Carry and Deployment

The first carry method is to carry the items separately. Like I said a 4-ounce weight on a keychain isn’t great for your ignition but won’t be noticed by many. Most people will think you are a little too into your fishing hobby and that’s it. It’s unlikely that’d you’d be stopped even at a metal detector with a fishing weight and bandana. The non-threatening appearance overall makes it a rock-solid choice for passing a pat down and getting in and out when you need to. Carrying them as separate items does give you the ability to get a weapon into nearly any situation.

If you can grab a 6 or 8-ounce weight I’d go with a heavier one. 6 ounces wrecked a coconut. If you have a heavier weight and entering a potentially shady area you can pre-make your improvised sap. Once it’s made you can set it in your back or front pocket and simply leave the handle hanging out.

If someone gets close, all you have to do is grip it, rip it, and swing it. It’s quick to deploy and a bandana hanging out of your pocket doesn’t look like anything threatening. It’s quick and easy to deploy and still hits with a sting.

Parting Shots and Final Thoughts

I will say after a few hard blows the bandana will start to tear. It’s not made for striking an enemy more than a few solid times. You probably got half a dozen good hits before it breaks. Overall this is a powerful striking tool that’s easy to make, and easy to break heads with.

Originally published on the Crate Club Knowledgebase

How to keep an active shooter out of your room

In the past, we published an article on protecting our kids while they are at school when confronted with an active shooter or other violent situation. The knowledge contained in both 100 Deadly Skills books are worth their weight in gold in this day and age. The skills discussed here is a must for school teachers and faculty to practice and know how to implement. With some basic items (zip ties, duct tape and any broom or mop sticks) you can buy yourself valuable time to take cover or escape through a window.

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“Senseless shootings of innocent people continue to grow. Whether the prick uses a handgun or a rifle – it doesn’t really matter – crazy is crazy and bullets kill. You must have an array of tactics to survive these kinds of events. In both books, 100 Deadly Skills, I show how to barricade doors in different ways – this video is just one of many improvised ways to secure outward opening doors. The goal of my books and videos is to instill “outside the box” thinking – better yet – there is no box. Do whatever it takes to survive. Thank you for watching and please comment with other positive ideas.” – Clint Emerson

Upgrading the Glock 19: Shadow Systems Match Barrel

The Glock 19 may be one of the most popular carry pistols in the world. It’s capacity, reliability, dimensions and cost are all contributing factors that make the Glock 19 so popular. It remains my choice to carry 75% of the time as well. Splitting duties with my Glock 43 when I need deeper concealment. While there are many aftermarket parts that claim to improve the functionality or accuracy of this already excellent piece. The barrel, sights and trigger are the first I typically address. Shadow Systems, an American company heavily laden with military leadership and employees, produces high quality match barrels, Glock accessories in addition to complete modified Glock pistols.

Shadow Systems was kind enough to send me one of their Match Barrels for the Glock 19. Additionally, this beautiful barrel is fluted, threaded and coated in that sexy gold Titanium Nitride (TiN). These barrels are an easy upgrade as they just drop in like the factory barrel. Because this is a threaded barrel, it comes with the advantage of measuring an additional 11mm over the stock barrel. My first assumption with the additional length would be additional weight. But a quick measurement with my postal scale shows 104g. Oddly, the shorter original Glock barrel also weighs exactly 104g too. Obviously, the strategic sculpting of material and fluting of the barrel is what offset the additional length of the match barrel.

Glock barrel: 102mm, 104g | Shadow Systems barrel: 113mm, 104g

Staying true to their roots, Shadow Systems match barrels and are designed and manufactured here in America. Precision machined and engineered from U.S. sourced 416R Stainless Steel, the match barrel fits tighter in the critical lock-up areas than the original barrel further enhancing accuracy. I recently had a chance to get out to my range to shoot this barrel. First, I took a magazine worth of slow aimed shots with the factory barrel to see what the pattern looked like at 10 meters. Followed by a magazine with the match barrel from the same distance, same Team Never Quit 100 Gr Frangible 9mm training ammunition.

Match Barrel specs courtesy of shadowsystemscorp.com

Glock 19 Compatible (all generations)
416R Stainless Steel, 1/10″ Broach Cut Rifling
TiN (Titanium Nitride) Finish
1/2X28 Threaded
Thread Protector Included
Made in the USA
MSRP ~~$249~~ Sale $219.45

Although the results are fairly clear to see, this was in no way a scientific measure of accuracy. But since no one realistically fires their carry pistol from a pistol vice, it does show what results you can expect as a practical shooter. One thing I would love to add to my carry G19 is one of Shadow Systems custom slides. Take a look at the Shadow Systems website for all of your Glock related parts.

Crate Club’s Deadly Deck: Kill, Survive, Evade

Clint Emerson and his Book 100 Deadly Skills is a must-read for anyone who has an even passing interest in fieldcraft should read. It provides 100 Deadly Skills in an easy to digest format that provides vivids illustrations combined with easy to read and remember instructions. Crate Club has partnered with Clint before, but in my opinion, the Deadly Deck is my favorite collaboration. We’ve taken our 52 favorite Deadly Skills and built them into the Deadly Deck.

What’s Inside the Deadly Deck?

I won’t go over every Deadly Skill but a few of my favorites include No. 68, Make a Diversionary Flash Device. Using a lighter and flint you can make a bright and powerful little distraction in just a minute or two.

It’s easy. Take the lighter apart, remove the flint, wrap the Flint in the spring and heat until red hot. Once its red-hot throw it and run.

Another is No. 030, make a sap with some easy to find materials. This simple tool uses a fishing weight and a bandana to make a truly deadly tool. It’s certainly no toy. Keep watching Knowledgebase as we’ll have an article up on it soon, as well as how devastating it can be.

This unique cards will make any card game more interesting, but also act as flash cards and training devices for the Deadly Skills. Some are simple like the aforementioned Sap creation, others are more complicated like stealing a plane, and properly disposing of a body.

These cards will certainly spice up a poker game, and if you know the cards well enough make it easy to have an advantage. If buddy A starts talking about how to Win a Knife fight you know he has the six of diamonds.

The Outside

It should be noted these are high quality, gloss cards designed to last. They won’t tear and fray without a fight and if you spill a little scotch on them they’ll be okay. The cards feature the same easy to use high-quality illustrations from the 100 Deadly Skills Manual. The back features both Clint Emerson’s Violent Nomad Logo as well as the Crate Club logo.

The Deadly Deck provides constant content in a sleek package perfect for playing cards, or studying discreetly at work, on the train, or wherever life may take you. It’s a survival manual that doesn’t look like a survival manual. What more could you ask for?

Visit the Crate Club store to get your Deadly Deck today!

Originally published on the Crate Club Knowledgebase

Learn how to build improvised body armor

If you haven’t checked out book 1 of 100 Deadly Skills then you need to remedy that NOW. This first book covers many skills for personal protection whether you’re a normal dude working a 9 to 5 job, a world traveler or you’re an operative for one of the 3 letter agencies. There are many practical skills found in this book and the new Survival Edition that we all can all learn and benefit from. You’ll learn to look at everyday common items around you differently and see them as assets to your survival. Take the following skill for example; Improvised Body Armor. It’s a damn good skill to keep in the back of your mind if you’re traveling. Hopefully, you will never have to use it.

Check out the following video as Clint Emerson demonstrates making Improvised Body Armor by using two of his books, two small ceramic plates and some duct tape. As you will see in the following video, this improvised body armor was able to stop both .22LR and 9mm.

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*Featured image courtesy of Clint Emerson @ 100 Deadly Skills