Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2019 i SkillSet

First off, who doesn’t love Bob Ross? In a world of anger, hate and scumbag politics, his TV shows are a beacon of chill for those who are suffering from high blood pressure and Trump Derangement Syndrome. Bob’s iconic perm-fro (which he actually hated, but he was so broke he couldn’t afford proper haircuts) became his calling card, along with his soothing one-liners and mesmerizing voice. One thing is for certain—Mr. Ross never effed up a painting. Nope, they were all just “happy accidents.” Screw up that tree trunk? No problem, he would just make it a rock. Sneeze all over the canvas? Easy day … he would just add some snow and call it a magical winter wonderland. Damn, this guy was good. Ben and I have collectively watched…

Unbeknownst to many, Russian military might is not the only source of fear coming from the infamous “Red Giant” of Eastern Europe. Russian organized crime—or Bratva, as it is sometimes called—is a major power that has its hands in numerous criminal activities worldwide. From murder to extortion to drug trafficking and human slave trade operations and more, the Russian gangster is not to be taken lightly. With such a deep and powerful reach into nearly all major crime activities, it takes not only their name and reputation to enforce their will, but also a slew of weaponry aimed at those not willing to cooperate. Their use of hand-held blunt instruments, high-powered firearms and everything in between gives the Russian mafia’s assassins numerous means to handle and ultimately eliminate their “problems.”…

First, I am a strip-club connoisseur of sorts. Now, whether you approve of these types of establishments or not, the bottom line is that they are going to be around a lot longer than you or I. So, the least I can do is give you a few pointers to make everyone’s experience tip-top. In fact, I have scarred up my liver and run the labyrinth of STDs and single moms to provide you walking hard-ons with a few of the most important lessons I have learned along the way to my well-earned superstardom. It should be known from the outset that these clubs may vary considerably in both the quality of their talent and their amenities. At some, the number of teeth the girls have decides where they fall…

The day was November 22, 1963. Everyone in my generation remembers where he or she was the moment President John F. Kennedy was killed. The following days were devastating as we all gathered around our TVs and watched the elaborate funeral and heard about the chilling details of the murder. Everyone was living in anger and sadness, wondering why Lee Harvey Oswald would commit such an atrocity. Then, out of nowhere, a second murder occurred. A man named Jack Ruby completely destroyed any chances the American public had of finding out what really happened. Looking back, this tragedy marked my first experience with government cover-ups, and boy, what a cover-up it has been. Let’s go back to that day, shall we? They expected us to believe that a disgruntled young…

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” —not Winston S. Churchill The news media never make as much money as they did in the 2016 election cycle. Those billions of dollars in revenue are the reason that the drama will never stop. Don’t expect them to give up this new, high-yield business model of outrage-culture reality shows. Lives, careers and reputations will be continuously sacrificed on the altar of “break-it-first-retract-it-later” sensationalistic reporting, all while claiming journalistic privilege to “protect” anonymous or confidential sources that may not even exist. Some bombshell events are created by taking things out of context to paint shocking narratives, like we saw with the Covington Catholic High School students’ case, and then there are some…

AT 5:05 P.M. PST ON MARCH 23, 1994, AT A CAMPAIGN RALLY IN THE IMPOVERISHED NEIGHBORHOOD OF LOMAS TAURINAS, TIJUANA, THE MEXICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LUIS DONALDO COLOSIO WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD WITH A .38 SPECIAL AT A DISTANCE OF A FEW CENTIMETERS. A SIMPLE, CHROME-PLATED PISTOL WAS ALL THAT WAS NEEDED TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY IN MEXICO. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I HAD EVER SEEN A REVOLVER USED IN PERSON. THESE TYPES OF GUNS ARE REFERRED TO AS “CHATAS” BY SOME IN MEXICO—SLANG FOR “STUBBIES.” DURING THE TIME THAT I WAS ACTIVE, I SAW HOW EFFECTIVE SMALL J-FRAME REVOLVERS WERE. SPECIFIC GROUPS, BOTH CRIMINAL AND GOVERNMENTAL, GRAVITATED TOWARD THEM AS ASSASSIN’S TOOLS AND BACKUP WEAPONS. THE FOLLOWING IS AN INTERVIEW WITH THE MAN WHO EDUCATED ME…

Rookie training is designed to prepare smokejumper candidates with the necessary mental fortitude, logic and reasoning skills, and physical capacity to succeed in highly dynamic and arduous work environments. Training lasts a minimum of 6 weeks and only a small group of people each year will make the cut. Rookies are expected to arrive in excellent physical shape and pass the PT test on the first day of training. The minimum standards are as follows: ► 7 Pull ups ► 25 Pushups ► 45 Sit ups ► 1.5 mile Run in 11 minutes ► 110 pound pack out: 3 miles in 90 minutes ► 45 pound work capacity test: 3 miles in 45 minutes. Rookies are evaluated on team attitude, ability to learn, and performance. Due to the large amount…

MEXICAN TOUGH MUDDER In the Mexican town of Parque EcoAlberto, tourists get the opportunity to experience a simulated illegal border crossing. That’s right! For just a few pesos, your coyote-like guide will run you through underground tunnels, night hike you through rugged countryside and even get you chased by fake border patrol! The program is actually used by the local indigenous tribe to teach the lesson that border crossings are very hazardous and bad for the local community. Are Pigs Smarter Than Our Kids? If your kids are three years old or younger, the answer may be yes. If they are teenagers, the answer may still be yes. Considered to be smarter than most dogs, pigs are in fifth place when it comes to the world’s most intelligent animals. Pet…

Your mundane evening commute is interrupted when your vehicle suddenly shuts off and comes to a rolling stop. You notice the silence, the lack of manmade light and how every vehicle is in the same condition as yours. Then it hits you. There’s been an EMP. You grab your get-home bag and start hoofing it—seven miles shouldn’t be too bad. It’s totally dark now, but you’re making good time. Cutting through a long stretch of a narrow alley, you can see a large and loud crowd gathering at your exit. What now? You try an exit door to one of the buildings, but it’s locked. Immediately, you grab your picks and defeat the lock. After finding refuge inside, you decide to shelter in the safety of the building until morning,…

Today’s Internet Society seems to have lost its appreciation for keeping a secret. In fact, many of the things we own and use today not only track our buying habits, where we go, who we watch and listen to, but will even listen to our private conversations. It hasn’t always been this way, though. Throughout history, humans have been fascinated by the idea of secrets—from the hidden passageways of Egyptian pyramids to false-bottomed drawers in 19th-century desks to the elaborate vehicle “trap” compartments of the 90s drug trade. Unfortunately, as times have changed, a lack of skilled tradesmen, mass production and even current laws have caused these kinds of secret-keeping items and techniques to go by the wayside. However, those of us who refuse to embrace today’s “Privacy is dead”…

Spend any length of time in a business school and you’ll read case study after case study telling you what the largest companies in the world do to achieve success. Even more fascinating, though, is how many of these companies got started. Often, they began with just one person in a garage or bedroom workshop, grinding it out and following their passions to create what’s in their hearts in the hope of having an impact on the world. We just love good stories about people busting their asses to make something unique, pouring their hearts and souls into their products and creating fan bases that are rabid. (Sounds a little bit like SKILLSET!) Jimmy Compton is a U.S. Army soldier turned contractor turned entrepreneur, who is quickly becoming known for…

The year is 1914, a time when men were men and the sheep ran scared. The setting is a foggy European landscape at night. The conditions are cold, wet, austere. You are hungry and scared, but still completely focused on the task at hand. You are also about to take the life of a man that you don’t know for the greater good of the world with a sentry-removal tool called the trench knife. This instrument of death gives you the option of either crushing his skull with its brass knuckle-style handle or skewering him with the blade. With catlike agility, you sneak up behind the sentry and act upon your wise decision to first crack his head with the knuckles and then slice open his throat. You have truly…

Violence in the workplace and dating co-workers is generally frowned upon in most offices. Kicking Stewart’s ass or sleeping with Samantha tends to get you canned from a whole lot of places. But what if your co-worker is a dry-snitching hater boy who tries to sleep with and keep all of the pretty office honey badgers to himself? In certain situations, tolerance and restraint only go so far. There comes a day when the Alpha Male needs to stand up for what’s right and just. Here at Skillset, we are committed to offering you, our readers, realistic, close-quarter combat tutorials to help you survive any type of office attack that may come your way—and may the Force be with you when the shit goes down. 1. Recognize The Threat And…

Jacket On A Warm Day A jacket provides large pockets for pistols as well as cover for weapons in the waistband. Many gunmen have worn a jacket on a warm day in order to conceal a pistol in their large, easily accessible front pockets or to conceal a pistol or two in the waistband. Weighted Jacket Pocket Concealing a pistol in the pocket of an unzipped jacket will cause that side to be weighted and to hang lower than the opposite side. The lighter the pistol, the less the lowering. Pocket Pointing When a pistol is concealed in a jacket pocket, the barrel typically points downward, causing a pointing effect visible on the jacket pocket. This is easily observed in a lightweight hooded sweatshirt. Bulge A pistol jammed in the…

All right, all you oxygen thieves, bring it in real close today. I’m wearing a fresh coat of lovin’—take a whiff, go ahead. Lunch was mmm … tasty. I’ll be signing four-day passes after this, unless between now and then Doc tells me your mom is extra D-I-R-T-Y—I mean, der-tay! Seriously men, today I want you to listen to me like you’ve never listened to anyone before. As you know, there are many great folks in this beautiful country of ours, but there are also just as many who have lost their way and have fallen to the level of undesirables. It doesn’t matter if they’ve chosen a life of crime, are some doctor’s opioid victim or are just plain stupid. There are folks out there who would rather steal…

FOUR ON THE FLOOR The frame of an old Model T sits alone in a field, braving the harsh sun and elements for the past 50 years. Land changes hands, car trends come and go, but one man with a vision sees the rusted metal as a thing of beauty. He smiles at the thought of building the engine, reinventing a car that once shone on the roadway, no rules to follow or deadlines to make. “What is a rat rod?”, you ask. A rat rod is a project car with heart. It’s sweat and good ol’ American muscle mixed with personality and style. Its rust, dents and imperfections make it unique. Its fast engine and low profile make it “cruise worthy” for a Friday night. CHOPPED AND DROPPED Our…

TO SAY JEFF HOUSTON is a busy man is an understatement. His skillset behind a firearm has led this Denver, Colorado, native to the Green Berets and later to become the Director of Operations and Lead Instructor for the NRA Carry Guard. Jeff also owns Tac7, a boutique security firm based in Dallas, Texas, specializing in the security needs of private clients and families and corporate training for potential workplace violence. SS: What made you decide to join the military? JH: I was attending Arizona State when 9/11 happened. That prompted me to start taking a look at what I really wanted to do in this world. I started to look into different ways of serving, including law enforcement and military options. Our country was at war, and I came…

This summer in the western United States hundreds of wildfires will ignite. Some of these fires will be many miles from the nearest road. Others will grow rapidly and require immediate reinforcement of the firefighters already engaged. In some cases, situations will verge on chaos and call for a higher level of leadership and experience to manage the fight. The wildland firefighters counted on at times like those possess the intelligence, decision-making ability, self-reliance and physical fitness that make them the ideal choice in worst-case scenarios. They will get the call at their base, rig up in under two minutes, board a short takeoff and landing aircraft and parachute into the job site. They are the smokejumpers. Smokejumpers will be the first to tell you they are a very small…

Born in the small town of Medford, Wisconsin, it’s safe to say that Capt. Michelle Curran was born a thrill seeker. “One of my parents’ favorite stories is how they found me at the top of a tree taller than the house when I was two years old,” she says. Growing up in the country meant many days outside building forts, rigging ziplines from the rafters of her grandparents’ barn and creating her own adventures. “One of my favorite things to do was ride rollercoasters with my Dad,” she adds. It’s that adventurous side of Michelle, coupled with her strong Type A personality, that’s led her to where she is today. Like many kids in high school, Michelle began looking for scholarship opportunities, but she also had the foresight to…

“YOU CAN TALK THE BIGGEST GAME IN THE WORLD, BUT IF YOU DON’T EXECUTE AND CREATE FORWARD MOVEMENT, IT IS ALL NULL AND VOID.” How easy is it to make assumptions about your personal abilities? In an era where technology dominates, it’s all too simple to inadvertently gain a false sense of security. As the old saying goes, “Less talk, more work.” You can talk the biggest game in the world, but if you don’t execute and create forward movement, it is all null and void. Constantly testing yourself both mentally and physically is a surefire way to avoid the manifestation of an unhealthy ego. You need to be able to tell if you are an asset or liability to yourself and others. In the gun and self-defense worlds the…