Joe Pistone is a former Marine, current Law Enforcement, and a member of the cadre at Orion Training Group. When I traveled to the HTA Range Day event, Joe was one of the instructors running my class, and I had the privilege of learning from him throughout my day and half spent at the event. As someone who's been involved on the learning side and done a good amount of development in the realm of CQB both in and out of military, Joe has a lot of knowledge and insight not only around teaching, but...
Sep 27, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 197
This week, I have a very unique conversation with Mr. Sam Boyer Groff, or as many of you probably know him, Prep Medic. Sam is a flight medic and also works with a local sheriff's department as a SWAT medic. As such, he has a lot of experience dealing with a variety of medical emergencies that many of us could hardly ever dream of encountering. We spend time talking first about what brought him into his current career position, what it takes to get there for folks aspiring to do it, as well as t...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 196
Matt Thomas is a Arizona native who has spent the last 30 years working as a Pinal County Sheriff's deputy, and currently holds the role of Chief Deputy. Over the course of his career, he has worked in Detention, Patrol, Narcotics, S.W.A.T., Undercover, and more. Given his position, and experience combating the cartel activity that comes through his jurisdiction, I took the opportunity to pick Matt's brain on many of the issues involving the U.S. southern border. We talk at length about human tr...
Sep 13, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 195
Josh and I sit down for a discussion around the importance of discomfort, and mental toughness when evaluating your personal growth. One of the biggest setbacks we all face with our individual development is one we are least likely to acknowledge, and can be the most difficult to face. Our own individual aptitude for overcoming the adversity which we encounter. We talk at length about how placing yourself in specific situations to spur growth, while acknowledging an overall lack of personal comf...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 194
Hard to believe we're already in September, as the summer continues to wind down for 2023. Since it's a new month, it's time for another SITREP as we bring you current events and political news, while sharing thoughts and feelings around their impacts. In this installment, we talk again about the growing concern with the southern border of the United States, the health status of our country, our expectations of our aging leadership, and more. There's a lot to dive into with this, and we waste no...
Sep 03, 2023•43 min•Season 2Ep. 193
Trey Rosenbaum joins me again for this weeks episode as we dive into one of his life's great passions, Disaster Relief work. Like myself, Trey's first experience with relief work, similar to myself, was assisting with the nation wide effort to send supplies to Hurricane Katrina victims. Living in Arkansas, Trey has experienced a lot of Tornadoes, flooding, deep freezes, and as a result devoted a lot of time to getting certifications for relief work, and helping people. We spend a lot of time in ...
Aug 30, 2023•1 hr 53 min•Season 2Ep. 192
I am joined this week by Chris Dwulet, who is a writer for ammo.com . Chris and I get into several points of discussion, but primarily focus on prepping in a suburban setting versus rural, and his personal experience of helping his mother-in-law flee Ukraine and escorting her safely to the United States. Many pieces of prior guest conversations can be found in our chat, but the story itself is incredible. Things like reliable communication, planning and contingency planning and more are highligh...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 55 min•Season 2Ep. 191
As I find myself amidst another year of getting off the grid, and heading out to teach camp, and shape the minds of future musicians, I thought it a great opportunity to talk about teaching. It's a interesting relationship between teacher and student, and one that I think is often misunderstood. Personally, I've spent a immense amount of time trying to deepen my understanding, in order to be a better instructor. In this episode, I share my experiences and feelings around the importance of commun...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 190
It's been a hot minute, and then some, since we had a dedicated discussion to everyday carry. As a prepared community, this concept is baked into our daily lives. The tools and gear that we carry with us to enhance our capabilities, it what makes up our E.D.C. With that said, I share thoughts around what your should carry, provide some caution when selecting holsters, talk medical, carry bags, knives, and watches. Truly a departure for the discussions we've gotten used to here, but a fun one non...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 189
Another month, and another round of updates, as we jump into current events, and some good ole fashioned political commentary. We have the ongoing investigation into the current president's possibly illicit business dealings, another arraignment of our former president, the vice president serves up another word salad, and more. We try and release these at least once a month, to bring you all our thoughts and our feelings around the world we live in, what it could possibly mean, and even what we ...
Aug 06, 2023•47 min•Season 2Ep. 188
Human trafficking is probably one of the most well known, and least acknowledged problems that plagues society today. It exists globally and is an industry that generates revenue beyond what most markets can achieve in their greatest of years. To bring awareness and education to this cause, I sit down with Kara Smith, a consultant and Air Force veteran to talk about this. As someone who has spent time working with multiple government agencies, supported law enforcement in their efforts to combat...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 187
I'm joined this week, by former Marine, and Air Force veteran, Alex Manor. Alex is one of the instructors at Maneuver Training Solutions, as well as the face of both Leaderless Gentlemen and Tactical Lifters Guild on Instagram. We have the opportunity to sit down and have a deep conversation about life, balance, fitness, nutrition, personal accountability, raising children, and more. This was one of the more surprising discussions I've had the privelage to host, and definitely one of the most en...
Jul 26, 2023•1 hr 51 min•Season 2Ep. 186
Bryan Veliz is the owner and founder of Slytac Training. In addition to that, he's spent years instructing as a full time LE officer and working with Centrifuge Training. As a result, Bryan brings a unique combination of experience from both the training/teaching forefront, and the real world participation as a police officer. We sit down, and chat about what got Bryan started, how he got where he's at today, and what drives his training philosophy. Subjects like low-light engagements, white lig...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 2Ep. 185
White Lights. We all carry them, either on a firearm, on our person, or ideally, both. It's hard today to have a discussion around the flashlight game and not have the name Cloud Defensive brought into the conversation. Cloud has been around for about a decade and has turned heads with its products, pushing the limits of what's on the market. In this weeks episode, I have the chance to chat with Sean McCauley, one of the two founds and owners of Cloud, and talk all about flashlight innovation, a...
Jul 12, 2023•1 hr 57 min•Season 2Ep. 184
In this latest installment of our SITREP series, I talk about some of the geo-political crisis that are happening over in Europe. There are several strong parallels to be drawn between some of our own experiences here in the U.S. and what we're seeing in the news in both France, as well as the Netherlands. Greater understanding of these overall issues is indicative of many underlying and symptomatic problems that our society across the globe is facing in 2023. Additionally, we spend time discuss...
Jul 09, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 183
As we celebrate the fourth of July, I thought it important to talk about not only why it's a true holiday worthy of our celebration, but the responsibility we as American's we have to uphold it's meaning. I talk about current events and the erosion of the Second Amendment community, and how the behaviors that allowed for that same damage can further lead to dramatic swings in our country. Everyone should absolutely take full advantage of the opportunity celebrate the liberties and freedoms that ...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 182
We talk a lot about physical capability and personal health in our community, as they directly correlate with ones survivability. If you can't run long distances with good stamina, carry large quantities of weight, or lift heavy objects as needed, it raises questions. The flip side of this discussion, is how we fuel our bodies and how we care and maintain our bodies. Jayme Galash joins me in this weeks episode as we get into nutrition and understanding how to care for our bodies. The correct beh...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Season 2Ep. 181
Fresh off of our introductory range session for Fathers Day, Josh, Trevor and I go over the experience and how sobering it was. Having spent so many years shooting, learning, and training, we easily forget the fundamentals involved with getting started down the road of tactical training. Administrative tasks like just walking down the range and how to handle the weapon platform all the way to safety procedures are all learning opportunities for the uninitiated. We dive into all of this and more ...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 180
In this latest situation report, as always, I share my thoughts and feelings around current events, what's led us to them, what we can expect going forward, and more. With the passing of the June 1st brace ban amnesty deadline we dive into all of that nonsense, as well as my personal thoughts and feelings around the investigation to the bribery allegations related to our presidents family. As it's fathers day, I also take a few moments to thank all the father's out there, and share with you why ...
Jun 18, 2023•47 min•Season 2Ep. 179
If you're a fan of performance based pistol training, you've no doubt heard of Scott Jedlinski, a.k.a. Jedi, and his company, Modern Samurai Project. Scott's teaching and knowledge has become well known, and well respected within our community for its effectiveness and it's proven results. In this week's discussion, I get to sit with Jedi for a few moments and talk to him about what led him to start teaching, why the focus on red dot optics and appendix carry performance, and more. The recurring...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 178
Something that gets a lot of buzz, and a lot of discussion today, is the concept of getting off the grid, away from civilization, and homesteading. It's a great idea that affords you a lot of additional freedom and benefits. I'm joined this week by Trey Rosenbaum, a Horticulturalist, as we talk about some of the foundational pieces of starting yourself down the road of greater sustainment, and a stronger community. We go beyond just food storage and sourcing nourishment locally, and talk at leng...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Season 2Ep. 177
As we continue to work toward growing our community and our groups, we reach out and make connections to expand our reach. We often preach to each other about the value of capable and valuable gear. However, we don't often consider the quality of the individuals we connect with, their morality, or their true value to our overall goals. Trevor, Josh, and I sit down to talk about our thoughts on morality in modern days, and the impact that character and mindset can have on all of us as we strive f...
May 31, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 176
Joining me in this weeks episode, is Matt Pranka, owner of X-Ray Alpha, LLC. Having spent several years in Special Operations as well as becoming a USPSA Grand Master, Matt has a lot of experience and first hand knowledge in shooting and training. In our discussion we took a deep dive into a lot of the cultural issues within our community that correlate with a lack of, or improper training. Things like fundamentals, appropriate training progressions, standards, and training paradigms are all a p...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 50 min•Season 2Ep. 175
Jon Dufresne is a former Army Ranger, and the owner/founder of Kinetic Consulting, teaching various forms of shooting, marksmanship, and night vision training. Duffy joins me this week as we sit down and talk about his perspective on providing not only quality training, but a quality learning environment to allow students to grow and develop. Throughout our conversation we talk about time management, personal help, development and dedication, as well as night vision and lasers. I had a blast wit...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 45 min•Season 2Ep. 174
Derek Frymire and I catch up on this weeks episode, as we jump into another discussion around gear. As the owner of Drop 6 and a expert in materials and sewing, Derek is an awesome resource to help shine some light not only on costs, but why costs go up or down, and what quality really means. As usual, there's plenty that I don't know that Derek is able to fill me in on, and we touch on materials, manufacturing, talk about the secondary market for used goods, and more. Happy to be able to grab a...
May 10, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 173
Another great SITREP coming at you as Trevor and I dive into current events and their impact on our community. I this installment, we talk about the coming expiration of Title 42, the ongoing crisis at our southern border, and it's impact on the country. We also spend time talking about the ongoing review of the pistol brace opinion, the end of the amnesty period, and what implications this all carriers with it. Visit our sponsors! Patreon - www.patreon.com/prepared_mindset_pod Midwest Gun Works...
May 07, 2023•42 min•Season 2Ep. 172
Jonah Tyree is one of the owners/founders of One Hundred Concepts, a company that develops solutions for common problems many of us face in the tactical community. Their light caps and scope caps feature a unique and simplistic design that many of us have come to love and appreciate. Jonah and I sit down, and talk about not only what lead to the creation of One Hundred Concepts, but why these solutions and products are necessary. We discuss the seven S's of camouflage, talk about the firearms co...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 2Ep. 171
Camouflage is a critical, yet often misunderstood part of our community. Whether you're talking hunting, tactical shooting, or just plain fashion, it has its place. To talk about this, I'm joined this week by Curt Liddle, the owner and founder of Relv camo. Curt started Relv back in 2017 and has since found great success in his unique and innovative designs, and strong industry partnerships. We have the opportunity to talk about the technological side of the camo development space, and his time ...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 52 min•Season 2Ep. 170
Josh and I sit down in this weeks episode and talk about some of the things you hear on the range, how it impacts your growth, and why it's important to see past the commentary for what's really useful. As we've seen more new shooters in the past few years than probably at any point in the last hundred years, helping to provide quality information, as well as providing the understanding that needs to come with that information, is absolutely critical. Josh shares some of the feedback from his re...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 169
Scott Dunham of Nocturnality Gear is my guest this episode as we dive back into the world of night vision. Nocturnality is a custom night vision shop, and Scott has is a wealth of knowledge on not only the industry, but a lot of the recent history of night vision technology and its applications. During our conversation, we get into the different generations of tubes, the details behind building your first setup, manufacturing standards and the specifications we look at while purchasing, and more...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 168
