Friends of Pat 2018

Brad Trittipo

Regular Member
FOP 2018 was a far better experience than 2017, considering I actually got to attend and not set in a repair shop all day. Arrived in Alliance on Friday and packed all of our stuff into the hotel prior to dinner. The parking lot was already a hive of activity with cigars and libations being handed out. We had previous reservations at Texas Roadhouse, but stopped by the Alliance Steakhouse on our way. A couple leaving the Steakhouse advised us that they hope we were with the group inside as no one else was getting in. Sounds like our group made an impression.

Friday night we meet outside at the HIX to meet friends and make new ones. I finally had the opportunity to meet Erik after talking online for years. Some great conversations were had, and stories were told. I am sure I was setting in the company of several fellow Lightfighters and P&S members, but again I failed to introduce myself. Now that I read the screen names of others reviewing the event I at least have a face for a name now.

Saturday, I arrived at the parking lot by 7:30 and based on the lack of cars thought I had arrived in plenty of time. With only 4 or 5 of us on the bus I thought I was sure to have my choice of classes to sign up for, that idea faded away quickly. By the time I set my stuff down and walked to the tables several of the classes were already full. I was happy to see we could sign up for Sunday classes to avoid another rush Sunday morning. I was able to sign up for Lasky’s NVG class and Chappy’s Carbine, sadly this meant I spent most of the day watching everyone else shoot. I had not trained with Chappy since taking a Shoot House class in 2016. I like Chappy’s training methods and the way he explains why a technique is used. We worked from various holds and worked under the timer. No equipment or weapons issues and ammo went bang. For a short two hours, learning occurred. I hope to make it back to Alliance for one of Chappy’s classes in the near future.

Lasky’s NVG class was informational and taught from actual field use. There was a PowerPoint, but the information was supplemented with real world use. This class just concreated the fact that I need additional training in the use of NVGs and IR lasers.

Saturday night the stories and solving of the world’s problems continued. Again, I failed to introduce myself. I believe I may of spoke with APSSBC on the range and before everyone arrived that night.

Sunday, I arrived late so I could get my stuff together at the hotel and sleep in a little. I arrived in time to listen on Chuck’s CQB talk. Even in that short time I gained knowledge. I typically search buildings either by myself or with one additional Officer from a neighboring agency, so I absorb as much as I can. The last class of the weekend for me was Jedi’s Advanced / RMR Pistol. This was a class I was looking forward to and I was lucky enough to get a spot. I ran the class with my newly built “Roland” type Glock 19 Gen 4. Prior to the class I had only shot 200 rounds through the pistol to test function with various weights. I picked up the Safariland 6360RDS-6832 to mimic the holster I carry on duty and added the hood sentry, the same as my duty holster which is a 7TS 7360. I wanted to run the combo to see what it can do.

The hood sentry I installed was from a 6004 I had laying around, apparently, they have changed some specs from old to new. The hood sentry on the RDS holster sticks and requires some pressure to release, the one installed on my work holster is smooth. To say this slowed my draw was an understatement. My draws were hindered by the sticking hood sentry and my thumb let me know by the end of the day.

This was the first time I have trained under a shot timer and it was humbling. When you are on the line with other guys running duty holsters you feel like you are the fastest gun in the west, when you are on the line with everyone else your draw seems like an eternity. Running under the timer and trying to make it as fast as possible I found my limit. I was getting shots off, but accuracy was failing. When I saw the groups of the other people on the line I didn’t feel as bad, but I’m still my own worst critic. I am buying a timer and I will be working on meeting Jedi’s standards with a duty holster.

I had issues with double feeds and stovepipes with my pistol. They were random, and I cleared them instead of diagnosing them. The MagPul Mags I brought were new, but the feed lips were damaged during loading. I recently purchased the new Caldwell Mag Charger decided to try it out. It claims to be universal and easy to use, I am finding that neither is true. I found that while loading the MagPul Glock mags the round would be pushed into the feed lips of the mag instead of under them like a traditional mag loader. Mags also slide up under the force of the round being loaded in the mag causing the issue to get worse unless you constantly push the mag back down. The factory mags loaded with some resistance but were easier than the MagPuls. The MagPuls all suffered damage to the feed lips in the forms of peeled plastic and chunks of plastic missing. I still had malfunctions with the factory mags, just not as many.

The other thing I noticed was that my thumb was rubbing the slid during cycling. I have not noticed this with other pistols, but I believe with the RMR, longer barrel and comp it is slowing the slide down enough to notice. I have kept the internals of the pistol factory, so the recoil spring may be the issue. I plan on taking the pistol to the range soon to diagnosis the issues. The pistol is way more accurate than me and I am now an RDS convert. I saw them as a gimmick and a range toy until I actually ran one.

What I didn’t like about this year were the guys complaining about the classes being too basic. I heard a certain group saying they walked out of classes that were running too slow and complained about the low round counts. I came to FOP all three years not expecting a full-blown class, as that was explained prior to arrival. The first year I brought way too much gear, the second year I brought a little less but didn’t get use it. The third year I brought what I knew I needed and 300 rounds per class just in case we exceeded the round count given. I am not sure why you complain about a class being too basic when that is what the event was advertised as. I have been humbled in “advanced” classes and in basic classes and as Louis Awerbuck always said, there are no advanced gun fights. If you are so advanced as you can’t take basic classes, why are you here taking up class space.

I was upset to hear this was the last year for FOP. One of the conversations I overheard mentioned something of an evolution of the event for the future. I would like to see a weekend of one trainer a day or one trainer per range with a daylong class. We need to keep something going, even if regional.

It was great to see everyone again this year. The HIX was awesome as usual and accommodated the special needs of our group. The range staff and volunteers at Alliance are on the spot and always looking for ways to improve classes. Just in the short three years I have attended training there the facility has expanded and improved. Thank you to everyone behind the scenes and out in the open who make the event happen.

Equipment this year:

Diamondback Tactical Plate Carrier

Backup duty belt with Safariland RDS holster mounted

LMT 10.5 with RRA lower and Defensive Edge internals. YHM Phantom Can

Glock 19 MOS. Trijicon RMR 2 6 MOA, Zev Tech Match Threaded Barrel, Primary Machine Comp. Mags were a mix of MagPul and Factory.

Fiocchi 55gr .223

American Eagle 124gr 9mm
 

shoobe01

Established
...What I didn’t like about this year were the guys complaining about the classes being too basic. I heard a certain group saying they walked out of classes that were running too slow and complained about the low round counts. I came to FOP all three years not expecting a full-blown class, as that was explained prior to arrival...

Eeew.

Aside from the fact it was not all about that, if you just took it cynically as a cheap way to get all this training, what do you expect? It's 2 hour blocks for each, and was $200 admission for the whole weekend.

I speak at a lot of professional conferences, and do workshops. I'll be in Krakow in two weeks doing it again. It's often a couple hundred bucks on top of general conference admission just to come to one of my classroom training things for 90 min - 3 hours, and I am not that much of a rockstar in my field.

P.S. I loved every class. Even the one I fucked up all over, even the PPT class. All was great. Screw anyone who says otherwise.
 

Abuchanan

Amateur
Twas a great weekend. Between the camaraderie and delicious food to the training, it was well worth double what we paid in admission. Looks like we were in a few classes together OP, I don't recognize your name though, so many people!

Andy - Me and my buddy included, easily a third of the attendee's that I talked to had never been to a Pat Rogers class. Like us, most of them said they'd been listening/watching him on social media and the interwebs and reading his writing in magazines for years. I don't think there was a person in attendance that hadn't learning something from Pat, even if not in person.
 

Seth Thompson

Regular Member
BT Wrote:
I was upset to hear this was the last year for FOP. One of the conversations I overheard mentioned something of an evolution of the event for the future. I would like to see a weekend of one trainer a day or one trainer per range with a daylong class. We need to keep something going, even if regional.

Second this. I wasn't able to get to the FOP events, due to that four-letter word called, "work".

Keeping quality training going in Pat's name would be awesome. I only took one of his classes, in 2007, but he was the guy who got me started thinking seriously about becoming an instructor. Watching him work made me realize that instruction wasn't about the subject, but about how the instructor assessed the needs of his students, and then taught it.

It would be cool to see that tradition continue, in one form or another.
 
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