Eric Davis

Barska Portable Biometric Lock Box

Being “Armed” is like having an affliction. You can’t drink when you’re carrying a gun, traveling with it is difficult and wearing speedos at the local pool impossible, or at least downright uncomfortable. Uncle Ben said it best, “With great power comes great responsibility” and if you’re going to own a gun you better be responsible for it.

As a child my father always kept loaded weapons around the house. As a Sheriff in San Mateo County, Ca. guns were nothing more than “work tools” to us kids. He taught me gun safety and always offered to let me “check out” his guns as long as I asked. I never touched them without his supervision and when at friends houses I was the only one comfortable, and familiar, enough with guns to leave them alone.

Having successfully made it through childhood without an incident it was my intention to utilize the same gun philosophy my father did when I had kids. That was right up until I attended my first concealed weapons carry class. The gentlemen teaching the class taught me two very important things regarding gun safety and management and I serendipitously learned two more things on my own that have stuck with me ever since. Here are the four (04) basic gun safety and management rules I’ve adhered to over the years.

1 – Locking up your gun: What if someone robs your house?

Okay sounds super obvious, but I just hadn’t thought of it. I mean that’s what the gun was for, but obviously, I wouldn’t always be home so leaving an unsecured weapon behind when I was gone made no sense. I didn’t care if I lost the guns, but I did care that I could have inadvertently armed a human being that was twisted enough to enter another human being’s house to steal things.

The moment he asked this question was the moment I made keeping my guns locked up and tethered to something my number one rule.

The first safe I bought was a small handgun safe that would supposedly allow me to put my hand on an imprint and then trigger the combination without looking. I thought it would be perfect to mount on my nightstand so that I could open it just before bed and close it first thing in the morning. Another bad idea.

2 – Walking to your gun: What if you have a nightmare or you “PTSD out” and wake up with your gun in your hand?

So it’s not uncommon for people to wake up and find themselves already in some sort of defensive action. He described cases where people kept their gun “under their pillow” and had accidentally woken up with it in their hand.

If it’s never happened to you this can sound unlikely, but I’ve, no less than 7 times, woken in a state of action yelling and reaching for a “dream” weapon and or, to my wife’s displeasure, reaching for her neck (those times I wasn’t really sleeping, but don’t say anything to her – she scares me). I don’t consider anything I’ve been through to be all that dramatic, but it doesn’t take much to put a guy on high alert. SEAL training alone produced a certain level of what I call “Training PTSD” that has kept me vigilant to this day. Just two nights ago I woke from a dream and punched a water glass off my nightstand while trying to subdue a non-existent attacker.

Now, thanks to his advice, I have to actually get out of bed, take a few steps and open a safe before I’m armed with a deadly weapon. Just makes sense.

3 – Traveling with your gun: How are you going to fly with that thing?

As I had mentioned the first safe I bought was a small one. I wanted a larger one to keep an entire collection in, but it was too expensive. At the time I thought I was settling by purchasing a smaller safe, but it worked out in my favor.

When you fly with a gun you have to keep it in a locked container within your luggage. When you get where ever you’re going you will have the same gun responsibilities as you had before you left. Having a small safe turned out to be perfect for such a thing. I can chuck the gun in my safe and chuck my safe in my luggage and I’m quickly off into the wild blue.

As an added bonus, after I arrive at my hotel, I’m able to lock my gun in an actual safe instead of one of those metal boxes hotel rooms have. You know the ones with the decorative combination pads on them.

4 – Password protecting your gun: Will you be able to remember the combo if you’re scared?

Though I was sold on the idea of putting a little “Mental” space between me and my firearm if I awaken to a threat, another “password” in my life was more of a mental space than I wanted to deal with.

For this reason, like I mentioned earlier, I bought a safe that would allow me to place my hand atop of it and enter the combo by feel. I thought a “sequence” of moves would be manageable compared to a number combo. This never worked because the safe would have to be positioned perfectly to allow my hand to sit just right and ultimately the damn batteries ran out.

Here’s what I did

So for my sons 18th birthday, I chose to give him my Glock 26. My plan was to drive him up to the Sierras, “Throw him off a cliff” (with repelling ropes) and give him “Dad’s” gun. Being that I’m 40 years old now and clearly losing my mind, I forgot the key to the safe and of course the batteries were dead. Oddly enough I know how to pick the tubular type lock on the safe, but that requires a special tool which, for whatever strange reason was not in my truck either.

Clear that God either didn’t want me to give the gun to my son or he wanted me to destroy my safe to do it, I had a decision to make. As I often do, I chose the tenacious approach and destroyed the safe. So not only did my son get his gun, but Dad got an excuse to go safe shopping.

Enter the portable, biometric safe by Barska.

It can store up to 120 user fingerprints – not sure why so many. I like the idea of it reading my print vs. me remembering a combination and I love the idea of not having to contort my body to get all 5 fingers of my hand lined up in an imprint.

This safe is small enough to travel with and can be tethered to anything. Well… anything tether-able. Most importantly it comes with 2 backup keys which, in all honesty, will probably be my primary means of access.

Useful specs

Stores Up To 20 Fingerprints
Traditional Key Lock
Interior Egg Crate Foam
Biometric Fingerprint Scanner
Steel Retaining Cable
Tough Steel Construction
Exterior Dimensions: 7.5in x 12.75in x 2in
Interior Dimensions: 7in x 10in x 1.8in
0.472 Cubic Feet of Storage Space

Don’t be an Ass

Now I know there are a lot of safes to choose from and I don’t care if you like the same ones that I use. I hope we can all agree that if we choose to own LIFE TAKING equipment of any sort, that we also choose to be responsible and safe. Don’t be one of those Assholes that has his gun used in a violent crime.

Purchase the Barska portable biometric lock box

* Photo courtesy of Barska

When you need sunglasses that can do anything: Oakley Crosshairs

Surgical, precise, fluid, dynamic, tough and always ready describes the professional operator, executive, or adventurer. Limited only by the constraints of physics and his own humanity, the professional operator carefully chooses every piece of gear he carries. The responsibility for remaining both agile and quick leaves no room for any gear which only serves a single purpose or can only function in a certain environment. Everything carried must pull more than its own weight.

Two Trips to Africa Before This Occurred To Me

The principle is obvious but the personal exploitation of it is not. Deploying with the SEAL teams, I always had as much space as I wanted, but now, when I head out the door to places like Ethiopia and Sudan, I’m restricted to bringing only what I can easily carry. Traveling light is a requisite for sustainable adventure.

I had just returned from a flawless trip that pulled me through the hot deserts of Africa and then lobbed me onto the Southern coast of Italy. Each trip challenged me to be a different person, but the responsibility to heft my gear around reminded me that I was peerless.

In Sudan, my priority was personal security, shooting and exploration, whereas Italy required a lot of foot movement, photography and the attendance of multiple formal events. I’ve always understood the notion of being efficient while traveling, but it was this trip that brought it all together for me. Oddly enough, it was a pair of sunglasses that I got from Oakley’s SI division that really brought the principle home.

Why a pair of sunglasses? Because this particular pair is a rare breed – ballistic vintage aviators that both protect (ballistic standards) and look good in a suit (my standards). They just kept showing up for me.

I Didn’t Expect to be Shooting Assault Rifles in Sudan

As with any trip, the unexpected occurs. I had actually brought the Crosshairs on the trip with me because I was hoping to get some unique shots of them for a simple gear review. I hadn’t planned on wearing them that much.

It was on my third day in Sudan when I got an offer to go shooting. I immediately said “yes” and then instantly thought, “Man, I need to get some good “Eyes & Ears.” I wasn’t going to risk anything so far away from medical care.

I’ll admit that I’ve worn a ton of eye protection while shooting that was not close to ANSI standards. It wasn’t until I witnessed the testing process in the Oakley labs that I realized how dangerous some of these shades really are.

To be honest, I hadn’t even considered using the Crosshairs at the range because I thought of them as “dress glasses.” It wasn’t until I was heading out the door for the range that I remembered that they were ballistic.
As I reached for the Crosshairs, this time for their ballistic protection and not their looks, the importance of everything serving more than one purpose struck me. I had sunglasses to keep the bright sun out and look good, but now I also had a certified pair of ballistic lenses to keep me safe.

Later, I found myself, now in full PSD (personal security detachment) mode, in a very crowded local market with my two young children, and I thought, “Why would I ever walk out the door, range or no range, without protecting one of my greatest resources?”

Italian Suits and Italy’s Elite

So as my life goes I find myself in some amazing places with some amazing people. On the second stage of the trip, I landed on the Southern coast of Italy in a plush Villa on top of a cliff.

The conditions and threat level were much more mild, but the need to perform was still obligatory. It was time to keep up with the Italian elite.

Okay… so I know it’s still odd to talk about fashion on a Special Operations site, but times have changed. Embassy duty, intelligence work, corporate briefs and a bevy of other requirements have thrusted the modern day operator into the world of style and presentation.

It was at this point of the trip that I think I appreciated the glasses the most. You see, there are multiple shooting glasses to choose from when you’re heading to the range, and even more to select from when heading out on the town, but these are the only glasses to choose from when you might be doing both.

So I dug through my suitcase one last time to pull out my dress shoes, tie and new Italian suit. I remember feeling the sense of enjoyment that comes from both putting on a nice suit as well as realizing that you’ll be back home soon. Travel can be stressful, but staying light, efficient and feeling good about your kit makes all of the difference in the world. I got in my suit and grabbed my new everyday glasses on the way out the door, and that’s when I thought, “There’s just not enough space to bring anything that doesn’t work for everything.

If you don’t own a pair of Crosshairs yet you can buy them here: Crosshairs

Eric

The Tribe: Four ways you know you’re breaking away from the herd

*Republished with permission from Eric Davis Blog

Getting Out

In 2008 I was in the midst of a nasty deployment schedule and what felt like the continuous death of deployed friends. So. Just four years away from retirement, I decided it was time to leave the SEAL teams and quit the Navy.

With four kids, two houses and a lifetime of responsibility ahead of me — I decided it was due time to jump on what I thought was the risk-free “road most traveled” of work, family, eat, sleep, and repeat. It seemed like a good, safe, and reasonable plan. But it almost killed me, and if you’re over thirty-five, it might be killing you too.

A Safe Way to Die

For a while, I traveled the traditional path of earning a living. I worked for a corporation, produced results, big results, and climbed the ladder for a bit.

It took a few years, but eventually, I began to feel a kind of decay. I became quick to anger, started to drink every day, and gained some weight.

Oh man. If I’m being honest, I even stopped doing the things that brought me joy. My regular activities: surfing, backpacking, climbing, running and free diving were no longer so regular. It was like those things no longer interested me.

This “safe route” was actually killing me; it was just doing it so softly over such a long period of time, I hadn’t noticed. Do you know what I mean? Does that sound familiar?

Why Do We March Off Cliffs Together?

I think I would have noticed this death march much sooner, but it turned out that there were all kinds of dudes surrounding me on the same path. For a while, I thought I was missing something. I mean these guys looked successful and happy— looked good, dressed well, beautiful families and cars. I thought it was the path to be on. Like they knew something I just hadn’t figured out yet, but that wasn’t the case.

I remember hanging at a BBQ at a friends house and listening to a few guys joking about how fat they had gotten and how things like sex and working out had become things of the past. I had really thought they were just telling “Old Guy” jokes, but as the night progressed I realized that they weren’t joking. They were screaming for help. Sure they were sharing their pain but they were masking it in sarcasm in hopes of learning that everyone around them was living the same kind of life.

Now. If I’m being honest again I have to tell you this. That night I laughed it off and thought to myself, “those poor sons-of-bitches. Sucks to be them”. But then on the ride home I pondered it all and was surprised to realize that not only was I on the same path as they were, but I had been on that very path for a while. As the look of “I’m glad I’m not those guys” wore off my face, I really started to ask myself “how in the hell could I have let this happen”?

Here’s What I Found Out

It turns out there was a bit of psychology going on. This phenomenon is called “herd mentality”. The herd mentality ultimately results in this thing called deindividuation — the loss of self-awareness in favor operating from a group emotion instead of your own rational thought.

The default behaviors of this mentality are: acting from auto-pilot, not making a conscious effort to form one’s own opinion or decisions (also, letting stress affect those choices), and only desiring social acceptance instead of working toward a goal. Again. I bet that sounds familiar. If so, you know the deal. Keep reading.

So the question not only is how do we break free from the herd, but how do we make sure we don’t fall back into it? To begin to answer this here, I thought I’d describe some of the “withdrawals” I felt as I pulled my mouth off the udders of others and stepped out on my own.

Four Ways You Know You’re Breaking The Herd

Fully aware that I had been wrapped up in this nasty deindividuation thing, which could only lead me off a cliff to splat on the rocks below with all of the other dazed and bloated cattle, I became hypervigilant. I quit watching and following everyone else’s lead. I stopped hanging out with people who were miserable. I stopped consuming any news or social media. I stepped off their path of conventional and old school careers and started to blaze my own. Was it risky? You bet. Was it frightening? Often it was terrifying. Was it worth it? I say yes, without a shadow of doubt.

It actually took me a while to fully break loose. It makes sense if you think about it. I mean, if you’ve gotten yourself to the point that you were mindlessly marching off a cliff, you can bet there are all kinds of other things, subtle things, that you have simply become unaware of.

Now free from the herd, well except from the occasional visit to get my udder fix, I can look back and share four distinct adjustments or maybe better said “Growing Pains” that told me I was truly making a break.

First: There’s that initial period of time spent alone. The time after you give up on those who will not come with you, and before you create your true tribe of those who will and can.

Second: The transition feels a lot like being lost in the woods with bad weather approaching and the sun setting. The anxiety is multiplied times the amount of kids you have and the size of your mortgages. What I’m saying is there’s some second guessing and sleepless nights. No kidding, I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that time in my life.

Third: I often thought of those who took the paved road, and sometimes I even envied their guaranteed arrival at their destination. Even when I knew they were going somewhere like an RV park or a golf course I sometimes thought about how peaceful and pleasant their path must be even though it was bereft of passion, fun, or inspiration. Their words not mine.

Fourth: The worst of part of this all is the daily reminder that if you fail, there is no one to blame but yourself. There are no other fat ass cows around for you to point at and blame. If you go down, you’re on your own. It will be all of your fault! Think about it, isn’t it our desire to avoid blame the real reason we take the path of the “herd” rather than forge our own?

As men, we’re bred to fight and hunt

In John Medina’s book “Brain Rules”, he claims that “The brain appears to be designed to (1) solve problems (2) related to surviving (3) in an unstable outdoor environment, and (4) to do so in nearly constant motion.” He calls this “the brain’s performance envelope.”

Hunt and Fish Video

A bulk of our time on this planet has been spent running down prey in dangerous situations to survive, and over multiple generations, we’ve evolved to those standards. Is it any wonder that when we don’t get out and “Get after it.” We feel emotionally broke, depressed, and downright pissed off?

With the advent of technology, our world evolved much quicker than our brains and bodies could. Today, many of us struggle to live with a hunter/warrior heart in a capitalistic, knowledge-based world.

For some perverse reason, many of us choose to anesthetize our God-given propensity to hunt and protect by taking prescription medications and sucking down booze in front of the TV. If you’ve ever tried it, God knows I have, then you already know that it doesn’t work. Well at least in the long-run.

When I left the SEAL Teams, I had capped my warrior’s heart so tightly that I became depressed, angry, and tired all of the time. I had left my active and adventurous life behind and it was no good. Actually, it sucked!

I’ve watched a lot of Men try to get this part of their lives back, but too many of them are already operating at 100% and have left no room to care for their natural state of being.

We’ll have more about this “Finding the time” in other posts, but for now, I’d encourage you to recognize the fact that these things are not “Optional” activities.

Get out and get some!

Eric…

*Be sure to check our Eric Davis’s site for more Men’s Adventure and Performance content.

Life’s Slow Moving Disaster

*Republished with permission from Eric Davis Blog

We are all living a life that took decades to produce. Like the path of a glacier, our lives consist of the habits and elements which have been slowly carved into our existence. Because glaciers move so slowly, we can’t always see their destructive or creative power until what will be done is already completed.

Sometimes we get the chance to catch them in the act and alter their course, but more often than not, we are required to experience the “disaster” they’ve surreptitiously created before we get nut punched by their existence.

I HAD LOST MY WAY

Years ago someone asked me, “What do you love doing for fun? What still gets you excited?”

My answer scared the hell out of me, and put me on the radical path you see before you.

“Nothing” I said. The room went quiet.

It seemed that the last bit of my adventurous and daring spirit had been consumed and frozen in the “glacier” of what my life had slowly become. My internal alarm went off.

QUICK STORY ABOUT PURPOSE

It took about seven years for this to happen. The “glacier” got pushed in this disastrous direction when I left the SEAL Teams. Obviously, the life of a SEAL is an active one, but my life outside of work was very active as well. I just assumed this was all because I had a lot of energy. I hadn’t realized that the ability to remain active was the result of something deeper.

I thought I liked picking locks, because it was cool and interesting. I thought I liked backpacking, because I was outdoors and enjoying nature. I thought I liked spearfishing, surfing, and mountain biking, because the activities relaxed me.

I thought it was me– Eric, out there doing all that stuff purely for the joy of it; instead, it turned out that there was purpose behind every “active” thing that I did. When I lost that purpose, I began to lose the active life that went with it.

You see, back then, every run was a training run, so I ran as much as I could. Every hike was a “shakeout patrol” to test new gear, so I hiked as often as I wanted. Even trips to Disneyland were opportunities to hone my Personal Security Detachment (PSD) skills while protecting my kids.

Everything in one way or the other was tied to a purpose and it was the “purpose” that kept me active, not my energy. So, when I lost my purpose, I began to lose my active life. The “glacier” began to press forward.

WHY YOU NEED A “PURPOSE” TO GET SOME

Why do we need a purpose to get outdoors, hike, camp, run, bike, spearfish, paddle board, or travel the world? Shouldn’t the activity alone be the purpose? For me, the simple joy of the action wasn’t enough to justify the time away from my work and my kids. I guess, in a way it felt too selfish.

Just “wanting” to go wasn’t working, and I would argue this to be true for most of us. This is why many of us don’t really do that much. At least not anymore.

Sad? Absolutely, but how many trips have you declined, or miles have you not run because you had “things” to do? Exactly! We need something important motivating the activity, as it is competing with other very important things.

I needed a purpose – a mission that was so important that it would break me free from the lifeless chains of stress and obligation. I needed a reason to travel to Africa twice in a year and spend weeks under the stars of the Sierras, or a reason to scout diving, paddle boarding and climbing spots on the Amalfi coast of Italy. I needed to survive, and the best way to survive is to be ready.

PREPPING ON PURPOSE

After reading many of the comments from “You Are What You’re Ready For”, I thought it important to give everyone a little more “juice” to inspire them to “be ready” for their life.

This tactical, special operations meets adventure executive “Preppers” mentality has captured the attention of many for good reason. On a very human level we all know we’re responsible for our own survival, as well as for those who depend on us. Should we find ourselves safe and sound we know there are others, many others, on this planet who still need help. Prepping is at our core of being human, unless that part of your soul, you know, has been frozen.

As I’ve said many times, the disaster you’re prepping for has probably already hit you. It just happened so slowly that you didn’t even notice. It’s time to wake up from that and save yourself.

IT’S TIME TO SAVE YOURSELF & OTHERS

So, don’t just “go camping.” Practice survival techniques on weekend trips with your family in the woods.

Don’t “travel the world.” Put yourself in new situations to test and evaluate your gear and ability to move around safely and with intention.

Don’t “go jogging” because you want to be thin. Condition yourself to escape and evade, transit trails, and climb mountains.

Let’s get out and go, so that we can live.

DISCUSSIONS OF A TRIBE

1) What have you been “wanting” to do that life has stopped you from doing?

2) What greater “purpose” do you think is driving this persistent “want”?

3) What does this greater purpose now inspire you to do?

Eric

Prepared for adventure: Philosophy intro

*Republished with permission from Eric Davis Blog

You no longer need to prepare for emergencies:

Flood, fire, hurricane, earthquake, terrorist attack, industrial accident. Whatever. Sure, anyone of those things could thrust us into a “Bug Out” situation; but nobody is really worried. Sure we could be forced into the streets with our families alongside thousands of scared people shedding their humanity to the beat of the news, but few of us actually prepare for such things and there’s some good reasons why we don’t.

The most obvious reason we don’t really prepare is because we’re already busy just trying to survive life. The other, and much deeper reason, is because it’s not in our nature to pursue meager survival. We’re on top of the food chain, number 1 predator designed not to just survive but exalted to thrive.

You no longer have to worry or prepare to run from disasters anymore. However, by the time we’re done with this purpose driven series of articles, you may just want to run into one.

Now let’s talk about the thing that will help us with the nasty business of being too busy.

A burning desire for adventure is all you need

It’s in all of us. A burning desire for adventure and purpose. The tightening in our throat during a movie, the feeling of anxious tension after too many hours at the desk. That “thing” is our soul grabbing us by our guts and trying to pull us outside. For some it feels like this fire went out, but it didn’t. The fact that you’re here reading these papers proves that the pilot light is still burning. We see it flickering and we’re about to pour jet fuel on it.

So, what does preparedness have to do with our soul? Preparing for a disaster is more about adventure and recreation, than it is about storing buckets of water and wheat. How do you know if you’re ready to thrive in an emergency? Give yourself 10 minutes to load out, and then take everyone you’re responsible for camping for a week. If you can do that consistently and comfortably, you know you’re ready.

What are the chances?

Fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane. Sure the chances of any one of these things happening is slim; but the chances of you going through life without anything happening are non existent. This is about shooting, moving and communicating. Survival of the fittest. Your purpose as a leader. A modern day operator’s skill set that must be practiced and maintained.

As Archilochus said:

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”

So yes… It’s literally your duty to get your “Stuff Together” and get outside.

Unpacking the truck

As a former medic, I was obsessed with having everything organized, tested, easy to get to and with me always. As a result, my personal truck is always purposefully packed and ready for an adventure, or the end of the world. Paddle boarding, spearfishing, rock climbing, hunting, mountain biking, unmanned aerial surveillance (UAV) or just hanging by the fire making s’mores… I’m ready.

During the course of this series we will unpack the truck and talk about the gear I use and why I use it. I know with a group like this echo-evolution will take over and I’ll learn as much as I teach so by the time we’re done we’ll have an amazing design for readiness through recreation.

First up is the “Harry Potter Pantry,” (it’ll make sense in a moment) It is a mobile, waterproof container that has been repurposed for the immediate deployment and rapid replenishment of food, fuel and first-aid. You will notice I streamline and build processes for everything, so it’s easy to keep ready. Ready for an emergency sure; but that’s not what drives my obsession here. It’s not always obvious, but a major reason we don’t spend enough time being active is because we don’t have our stuff ready and with us. Tomorrow when I review this mobile pantry in depth, I’ll say more about how to organize your kit with your life, so it practically kicks your ass out the door. Gear is beautiful, but you gotta get it dirty sometime!

We’re just getting started. Hit us in the comments section and tell us what you want us to unpack next.

Eric