- Joined
- Dec 16, 2008
- Messages
- 916
Just wanted to post a follow up to my training at Oregon firearms Academy.
I have been catching up at work and have not had time to give a full report of my experiences.
I have to tell everyone, I have ABSOLUTELY no remorse about choosing these folks to train with.
Day 1 was defensive handgun. With Dan Abbott as range master, we went over the safety aspects and started to build skills from the bottom up. As we progressed through the day, my confidence (and accuracy) improved. Rick Benson took over after lunch and I was amazed to find that I could actually improve that much in such a short period of time. I am no stranger to shooting a .45, but by the time Rick was done instructing.....WHOA, I was awesome! After several scenarios, we shot two full qualification sets. I shot Gold. Something I very much doubt I could have done without this course. Rick provided a lot of knowledge and skill in a little time.
Days two through four were spent in an area near Noti. It was unbelievably beautiful. Thousands of acres all to ourselves. Very nice. Joel Lisson was an incredible instructor. This mans credentials speak for themselves. He is a no-nonsense kind of a guy that is a wealth of knowledge that I have not experienced before. Dan Abbott was supposed to tag along, but unfortunately was unable to join us.
We had in depth discussion and tutorials on water procurement, shelter building including appropriate knots, fire making and how to move slowly, and cautiously without being detected. How to defend your group while moving from point A to point B and how to use the wilderness and your toolset to your best possible advantage. When to bug in, when to bug out and how to prepare ahead of time for both. We went out on patrol each day and we bivouacked each night in a different spot, where the training continued. What made a spot good to overnight, what was defendable, what wasn't.
I strongly recommend this school to others.
If you live anywhere near this area, you are a fool to not take some of the classes there. If you do not live near OFA, it is a nice place to take a mini vacation and a few classes. Book now while airfare is cheap, you will not regret it.
As a bonus, on the return trip to the hotel, I had the honor of sharing lunch with blade smith Jeff Crowner. He had several blades to show off and was very interested in the blade Joel Lisson had been testing since spring. Joel may want to give a full report, but I will say this, I handled that blade before I knew Jeff made it. It was beautiful and although Joel had been using it since spring without sharpening, it was still RAZOR sharp.
Dan, Rick, Joel and the rest of the OFA crew are incredible professionals and I will definitely be making another pilgrimage out to take the next level of classes.
I believe they have a Basic wilderness class this coming Saturday (10/17). If you hurry, you can probably get this one in before the frost is on the pumpkin!
I know this just grazes the surface, so If you have any questions, just let me know, I will answer the best I can.
Carl-
I have been catching up at work and have not had time to give a full report of my experiences.
I have to tell everyone, I have ABSOLUTELY no remorse about choosing these folks to train with.
Day 1 was defensive handgun. With Dan Abbott as range master, we went over the safety aspects and started to build skills from the bottom up. As we progressed through the day, my confidence (and accuracy) improved. Rick Benson took over after lunch and I was amazed to find that I could actually improve that much in such a short period of time. I am no stranger to shooting a .45, but by the time Rick was done instructing.....WHOA, I was awesome! After several scenarios, we shot two full qualification sets. I shot Gold. Something I very much doubt I could have done without this course. Rick provided a lot of knowledge and skill in a little time.
Days two through four were spent in an area near Noti. It was unbelievably beautiful. Thousands of acres all to ourselves. Very nice. Joel Lisson was an incredible instructor. This mans credentials speak for themselves. He is a no-nonsense kind of a guy that is a wealth of knowledge that I have not experienced before. Dan Abbott was supposed to tag along, but unfortunately was unable to join us.
We had in depth discussion and tutorials on water procurement, shelter building including appropriate knots, fire making and how to move slowly, and cautiously without being detected. How to defend your group while moving from point A to point B and how to use the wilderness and your toolset to your best possible advantage. When to bug in, when to bug out and how to prepare ahead of time for both. We went out on patrol each day and we bivouacked each night in a different spot, where the training continued. What made a spot good to overnight, what was defendable, what wasn't.
I strongly recommend this school to others.
If you live anywhere near this area, you are a fool to not take some of the classes there. If you do not live near OFA, it is a nice place to take a mini vacation and a few classes. Book now while airfare is cheap, you will not regret it.
As a bonus, on the return trip to the hotel, I had the honor of sharing lunch with blade smith Jeff Crowner. He had several blades to show off and was very interested in the blade Joel Lisson had been testing since spring. Joel may want to give a full report, but I will say this, I handled that blade before I knew Jeff made it. It was beautiful and although Joel had been using it since spring without sharpening, it was still RAZOR sharp.
Dan, Rick, Joel and the rest of the OFA crew are incredible professionals and I will definitely be making another pilgrimage out to take the next level of classes.
I believe they have a Basic wilderness class this coming Saturday (10/17). If you hurry, you can probably get this one in before the frost is on the pumpkin!
I know this just grazes the surface, so If you have any questions, just let me know, I will answer the best I can.
Carl-
