Well my bud Dave and I just finished our first day of Defensive handgun training here at the Front Sight training school in Pahrump, NV.

Very very well maintained facility and extremely qualified instructors. The course is well defined, and expertly instructed by highly qualified trainers.

Our course is the short two day version of the full scale 4 day course of the same title. Much is first taught via "dry-fire" exercises followed by live fire events. They go in "baby-steps" an approach I find excellent for this topic. All told, we expect to burn through just over 300 rounds in the two days.

Dave and I loaded our MCs on to a single axle trailer and towed them here. Following the course we intend to do some riding in and around the Grand Canyon and other sites of interest on the way home. Haven't decided where to go yet but I expect we'll get several hundred miles in on the bikes. The Titan is performing brilliantly and nary a hic-cup to date. Mileage isn't anything to brag about as we are averaging 11 to 13mpg while towing at speed limits. Less as we wound our way through the mountains of Oregon, Idaho, Utah and even Nevada.

No pictures to post yet, but some in the future.

Enjoy guys.

Red

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy

Sounds cool. Cant wait to see some cool pics

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07CC2wd Performance:2*advance, S&B intake w/ Ram Air mod, Dual Pro Street Spintech Cat-Back Dumped, Relentless Catch Can, JBA shorties, Magnflow cats, Uprev Exterior: NCD leveling, Tinted tails, Blacked headlights, HID's

Sounds like a nice little vacation you have going on and since school is getting out you may get lucky and run into some punks and get to try out what you've learned. Nothing like a live fire excercise.................

That sounds like fun! I haven't shot in years......... Plus the bike ride makes for a great time! Hope you both had a really good time!

Sounds like fun Red. Just remember. Sight picture, Breath control, Firm grip, Trigger squeeze. Have fun riding the bikes too.

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Well my trip came to an end when I returned home last night at 8:30pm. I ended up towing the trailer 2731miles with out incident. I have no firm info on gas mileage other than it was in the 5.8 to 84 mpg, depending if you were climbing up the mountain pass or coasting down the other side. The trailer and bikes and truck and gear weighed just at 8000lbs and we never spared the gas pedal. Cruised at or just over the speed limit the whole distance. My Titan just purred along and never was cause for concern. The transmission temp gauge never even made it to half gauge. The maximum radiator temperature was just about 194 degrees. This was in temperatures that reached 104 in Las Vegas itself. Much hotter that I'm used to and I have no desire to live in such a hot climate.

Good trip and yet, I'm glad to be home. Once I get a chance to reduce the size of the images, I'll include a few in my gallery.

Red

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy

Howdy Sir Red!
I need to take a handgun course. Took the Ak and 9-er out last week and did some plunking in the driveway up here. Here's what two "shooters" of Goldshlager and 100' shooting at a 7" diameter target did.......only one hit with the 9-er!.......
How's life on the West side?

Attached Thumbnails

 

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3-29-05 Born ...4/09/05 Adopted... SEKC...
4 x 4 Off Road with Big Tow and no E-loc... Blizzard...Graphite/Titanium Interior, Popular Package, Bench Seat.

Bilstein front/rear shocks, Deaver Mini-Pak Springs, Total Chaos Shackles, Hellwig Anti-Sway Bar, TrueTrac, Mag-Hytec "Honeypot", HK Axle Vent Mod, Frozen Rotors-Hawk Pads.
ARE Z shell, OEM bug/rock/gut deflector, Lund AVS Ventvisors, Bushwhacker- notched-Fender Flares, Burtman Stainless Steel Titan Door Sills, Black Vinyl Door Edge Molding on front doors and vertical sides of Tailgate, Spoiler Direct Chrome Tailgate Trim, Utilitrac System, OEM Dual Lower Sliding Trays, OEM under-seat-storganiser, Silver Star Low Beams, White Night Backup Lights, CT Windshield Sun Reflector, Drawtite Activator II trailer-e-brake control, Super-Z-Winter Traction Cables, Dueler AT REVO Tires-3rd set, Nitrogen in tires, NISSAN I-POD adapter, Bosch Icon blades, Optima Red Top Battery.

Amsoil: SEVERE GEAR 75-140W Synthetic In Rear and Front Differential, ATF Synthetic in Transfer Case,
Signature Series 0-30W synthetic engine oil, EAO13 oil filter, EaA104 Nano-fiber engine air filter
6 x 10' low bed/rails trailer with E-brakes, 100 year old rebuilt 4,000 lb. road roller/packer

JFK on Climate Change/Energy Revolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8dLHZ6jKFc
JFK JR. "We Have the Capability and Technology to Eliminate 100% of our Needs for Persian Gulf OIl" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heku9oTLysg
"PEACE TO THE PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONS" The TRUTH is still EVERYWHERE...I said this ~!!!~

Westside life remains good. I'm still doing the retired lifestyle. The course I attended would have been beyond my wallet if not for the fact it was offered to me free by my best buddy who received it as a gift from his brother. He and I have been shooting together for over 20 years.

I am positive I have improved my gun handling and shooting as a result of the training. Now it is up to me to continue the practice exercises to maintain my skill improvements.

Did you ever add a wind turbine to your homesite?

Red

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy

Glad you are staying in touch with the skills........I won't be plunking too often and I actually prefer the 12 gauge shotgun! lol
Are you reloading?

I have two wind birds..........the larger one I had some custom machine work done over the winter with a couple of ideas I have had over the years and it worked......much better/robust in the 40-70 MPH range that occurs in winter storms. The rotor spindle shaft now has 4 bearings instead of two. Not much wind to speak of in the summer.
I also added 1.35 Kw/hr. of PV modules on the garage roof and have a newer/bigger battery bank but I'm still using the 13 year old batteries since they're still reliable.
Good to hear from you again.

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3-29-05 Born ...4/09/05 Adopted... SEKC...
4 x 4 Off Road with Big Tow and no E-loc... Blizzard...Graphite/Titanium Interior, Popular Package, Bench Seat.

Bilstein front/rear shocks, Deaver Mini-Pak Springs, Total Chaos Shackles, Hellwig Anti-Sway Bar, TrueTrac, Mag-Hytec "Honeypot", HK Axle Vent Mod, Frozen Rotors-Hawk Pads.
ARE Z shell, OEM bug/rock/gut deflector, Lund AVS Ventvisors, Bushwhacker- notched-Fender Flares, Burtman Stainless Steel Titan Door Sills, Black Vinyl Door Edge Molding on front doors and vertical sides of Tailgate, Spoiler Direct Chrome Tailgate Trim, Utilitrac System, OEM Dual Lower Sliding Trays, OEM under-seat-storganiser, Silver Star Low Beams, White Night Backup Lights, CT Windshield Sun Reflector, Drawtite Activator II trailer-e-brake control, Super-Z-Winter Traction Cables, Dueler AT REVO Tires-3rd set, Nitrogen in tires, NISSAN I-POD adapter, Bosch Icon blades, Optima Red Top Battery.

Amsoil: SEVERE GEAR 75-140W Synthetic In Rear and Front Differential, ATF Synthetic in Transfer Case,
Signature Series 0-30W synthetic engine oil, EAO13 oil filter, EaA104 Nano-fiber engine air filter
6 x 10' low bed/rails trailer with E-brakes, 100 year old rebuilt 4,000 lb. road roller/packer

JFK on Climate Change/Energy Revolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8dLHZ6jKFc
JFK JR. "We Have the Capability and Technology to Eliminate 100% of our Needs for Persian Gulf OIl" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heku9oTLysg
"PEACE TO THE PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONS" The TRUTH is still EVERYWHERE...I said this ~!!!~

I'm not reloading at this time. I used to, when I shot only 9mm. Now that I shoot numerous calibers, I've held off until I decide on which will be my primary load. Then I'll investigate reloading cost vs commercial ammo.

I suspect I'll end up reloading .40S&W as both my main Sig and back-up Kahr use the same caliber. Then I'll just buy .380, and .45 either as reloads or new ammo. Anyway, now-a-day, commercial self-defense ammo is the best choice for that purpose. I'd continue to use reloads as my practice fodder.

I'm sure adding two additional bearings to the wind turbine will improve the rigidity of the rotor shaft and reduce the problems of vibration at higher rpms. Still, there is a finite speed you can let the rotor spin, as the blades can fail as the rpm gets too high. I'm sure the improvements will increase the life of the alternator and the rest of the system in general.

Sounds like you've been dutiful in your battery maintenance. Do you have an automatic cell watering system? I suggest you plan to add some new batteries in the future. Maybe a separate bank so that when the originals fail, you will have storage capacity on hand.

Do you subscribe to HOME POWER? I do and if you need copies of the PDF files for the mags; let me know.

Red

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy