I attended the Precision Response Training Concealed Carry Lifestyles course (CCW-101) Jan. 21st.
I myself have very limited experience with concealed carry. I only just recently applied for CCW permit, and have not yet received it. I have quite a bit of previous experience with guns in the form of practice, classes, and competitions, but not with concealed carry. I have taken a couple other defensive tactic/close quarter tactic classes that covered drawing from concealment and such. However, this is the first class I took wearing the gun with real potential carry rigs.
Precision Response Training's Concealed Carry Lifestyle class covered a wide variety of topics. However, it is important to mention what it isn't-- it is not a rehash of what you learned in the state course, it is not a shooting skill builder class, and it isn't a close quarter tactics class-- though some elements of these things were included in places. Really what this class was about every day carry, the things to expect from it, and some good habits do develop around it.
As someone who has never carried a gun concealed, I did not know what I didn't know. And it is what you didn't expect that gets you in trouble. Throughout the course, the instructors asked the students to contemplate the places that they go, the people that they're with, and the choices the make day to day. Then, as a group we discussed solutions to common problems relating to carry-- like how to decide if you can carry into your favorite restaurant (legally), or what to do about children in your family that like to climb on you.
From classroom discussion we moved into some drills that were mainly focused on getting the gun out (like I said, this isn't a CQT class), and getting the gun out under pressure or with distraction. First we worked on a basic draw from concealment to a first “shot”. (It was indoor, dry fire.) The instructor set a par time starting at several seconds and working down into the 1.5 second range. Since class sizes were small, there was always an instructor to watch you. They offered different draw possibilities and ways to make an individual draw faster.
During this time, we also got to try out a lot of different gun/holster combinations that the instructors or other students had on hand.
Next we did what was essentially a Tueller drill. The attacker starts with a walk, and moves up in speed with each repetition. The last drill was drawing with distraction/under pressure. Distractions included conversation with other students, loud music, yelling, and multiple potential attackers.
Last, we did full scenario training. Scenarios were run in this way. The student participating in the scenario was given a scenario to read in a separate room while the instructors set up the scenario. The student would know things like, “you're coming out of a convenience store at night”. So, essentially, they walk into the situation as blind as you would in real life. Instructors served as actors in the scenario and the students who weren't participating watched. Everyone discussed at the end.
Now, there were a lot of things that I found helpful about this class, but there were two things that I thought were particularly valuable.
First, it was EXTREMELY helpful to be able to try out a wide variety of holsters and guns. I can't tell you how important it is to wear something to class that you would actually wear. Chances are, there is some way to conceal in it. I found a couple gun/holster combinations that will conceal under a fitted shirt. (And since I am a relatively small female, that isn't always an easy thing.) I also learned that there are few holsters that I like in theory that just don't work well on my body, and I am glad I found that out before buying them. The value of that alone was probably work the $85 class fee. I probably saved more than that in holsters/guns that wouldn't have worked out.
The next thing that was really helpful was the scenario training. You can never do too much good scenario training. The situations chosen were realistic , helpful, common, and did not ALWAYS require the gun to resolve. I think that is important, because often in classes such as this drawing your gun is always the answer... and it real life it isn't. Without scenario training it is hard to know what you will do under stress. In addition, there is a lot of good evidence out there that the more scenario training you do, the more level-headed you will be in real life situations
Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I would DEFINITELY recommend it to people who are new to carry, but I would also recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their ability to carry effectively every day and handle a wide variety of situations. I can't wait to take the CCW 201 class.
