When colorful is bad.

THAT is freezing rain coming in. (Update: this radar image is Mary Poppins compared to what is on the screen now). There's a another band or two in Illinois also headed east. We're supposed to get up to an inch of ice.

Firewood is in where I can grab it easily. I have all kinds of sci fi and historical and biographical type books. The household has arctic rated sleeping bags (snow camping, always fun) and gear to cook over the fire if I run out of all of the pre made gourmet goodies. I have roast chicken, part of a leftover roast beast, homemade rolls, salad and I made a trip to the store for those emergency rations.

Coffee, some snacky stuff, Barkley treats, a favorite condiment, and some beer. What did you think I'd buy, more sterno?

But sometimes colorful is good.

Homemade Jalapeno Jelly (recipe in comments for now). I dropped off a couple of jars for friends, hanging on the door with bagels and cream cheese, ringing the bell and running. (OK, not running, Doc says I'm still two weeks out from anything more than a tactical mosey.)

Serve on a hot toasted bagel with a smear of cream cheese or dollop on a block of cream cheese and grab some tortilla chips. Eat it out of the jar with a spoon, the perfect combination of slightly sweet and hot. Some things aren't bad to be housebound with.

Dragon Leatherworks Talon Holster - A HOTR review

There's good holsters and bad holsters out there. Most of us end up with the 'big box 'o holsters' that most shooters acquire over the years. Trying one, then another, searching for the perfect rig. There's soft ones, hard ones, some that only MacGyver could love and some that are to artistic design what plastic forks are to fine dining. Still most of them are durable if not functional.

Designs I'm NOT fond of are are the “small of the back” and ankle holsters. The “small of the back” holster has some problems. The draw is difficult and therefore dicey. There is a danger of sweeping the muzzle of the gun in directions you don’t intend to cover. This is an easy holster to disarm. Someone can come up behind you and grab the pistol, and from where it is on your back, it's going to be hard if you aren't trained in tactical to stop them from taking it. Lastly, should you fall on your back, the small of the back holster is a steel bar across your spine that could accentuate the impact of hitting the ground. If you're small boned to begin with this is NOT a good place to be as the injury could make you an easier target. The leg holster is only really valid as a backup option and it’s not really great as a backup. The ankle holster is great concealment, but unless you are a professional or one of the Amazing Walendas the draw is so problematic that it is almost useless.

There's another one recently out, designed by a woman for women, that carries just under the bustline. No, not the waist, but right underneath the bust. I admire the woman for the idea, but it seemed to me the perfect way to get a accidental fire into the femoral. I can't even see my FEET, how am I supposed to instantly get the gun out from underneath Sigfried and Roy, not to mention the risk of now having a clear field to draw up and away from the holster, let alone doing it in a stealthy manner. A rapist may not be looking at my hand down by my waist or hip but I guarantee he's going to notice my hand going for the twins. (As well, it it just being ripe for those punch lines. . . if the bad girl is wearing one, do you shout out "you're busted" when going in for the arrest). Sorry, but you get the picture. I'm all for free enterprise and the promotion of self defense, but that just seems like a bad idea.

No, I wanted a holster I carry on my hip. One that is well designed, functional, with quality workmanship and that new holster smell. So I got a Dragon Leatherworks holster.

Modeled by my less camera shy stunt double, here it is, that nifty find from Dragon Leatherworks I was quite flattered that Dennis from Dragon Leatherworks asked my opinion as a shooter on a holster I own, especially from the viewpoint of a one who just happens to be of the female variety.

Dennis had been working on a new pancake holster for the 1911 in honor of the 100th anniversary of John Moses Browning's most celebrated design, and I was anxious to see where that has taken him. His craftwork is all 100% made in the US, not machine stitched in Albonia and then sent to the U.S. for assembly so someone in marketing can attach a "Made in the USA label" on it. Even better, it's made out of America's greatest renewable resource, leather! (Bacon holsters might be nice, but they wouldn't last as long).

The first thing I noticed when I got mine was the smell. I'm a person who is very much in tune with the senses, sight, smell touch, feel. That's probably why my cooking is generally more gourmet than Tatar Tot. Why I love the feel of leather on my skin, and the smell of good quality leather and dye.


The holster was beautiful, polished black, smooth to the touch. The stitching, tight, defined, perfectly even (is luxurious too much of a girly word?). There was no roughness on the outside, no loose stitching. It was pristine. Dragon Leatherworks has come a long way from the Fugly, the dependable but ugly sidekick may a gun has welcomed. The fit of the Talon is sweet, and its beautiful enough to serve as an Open Carry accessory even with my best little black pants.


Holsters should be designed by need first, not looks, finding the solution, then crafting the holster to be as visually appealing as it can while still doing its job. There are a lot of holsters, especially those crafted to draw in the female customer, that are designed to appeal to the designer in you, NOT the shooter. I don't need embroidery, fancy lines or froo froo, I want a holster that allows for comfort in conceal AND quick draw. I want one with good looks AND functionality and the Dragon Leatherworks Talon fits this bill, worn forward of the strong side hip, proper placement on the hip being a secret of an efficient, fast draw .

Out of the box, I noticed that this is not some puny little holster, made out of thin material, machine stitched and easily collapsible. The holster was form fitted to a Colt M 1911 A1 5" semi-auto pistol, but grabbed on tightly to the Kimber 1911 Tactical, the interior being a rough surface that gripped the firearm, but still gave it up when I needed it to (come to Mama), to draw rapidly if need be. It's not likely to be grabbed by someone else easily, or dislodged by accident. Even held upside down, with an unloaded weapon inside and trying for the tactical version of the Dance of the Seven Veils, the Kimber did not want to dislodge on its own. It liked its new home and wasn't going to come out until I wanted it to.


As a female, I like that it holds the weapon outside of my pants. I'm very particular about what gets in my pants, and a clunky, bulky holster riding up and chafing between fair skin and jeans that may already be a wee bit too tight is NOT something I want. I prefer the holster to be outside of the pants, under the belt, a perfect fit of form and design. Yet, like some other models of that type, the Dragon Leatherworks holster is not bulky at all, and on other than the most petite of women, would not be too big to carry a .45.

The rear panel is extended and flat and stays flat, hugging the body comfortably while the front panel gets molded to the gun. The pancake design hugs the curve of the hip while at the same time, the combat cut body shield facilitates grip and draw, quickly, if necessary. The holsters belt loops slots were a perfect fit for the belt loops on female jeans, fitting nicely in between the belt loops on a couple of different style of jeans I tried. The belt used was as much fashion as function, showing that even with a lightweight belt it held up well. I've found, as have other women shooters I queried when talking about this holster, that other manufactuers holsters are sometimes too big and we find that our jeans will bunch up badly on the holster side. This didn't happen with the Talon even with a belt that wasn't really heavy. (Just a note: though the Belt slots are standard, optional Yaqui-style belt tunnels are available.)


For myself, I like the under the belt cut, where retention is good with no additional features I do not need that will add bulk. It pulls in tight, so it's very concealable as well under a lightweight jacket or an over shirt or blazer. I could wear it all day and not really think it's there. For all day comfort in the field, I do NOT want the Victoria's Secret Push Up Holster, that rides, chafes and gives me a rash.

Face it, I'm never going to be some tiny, little delicate thing. I'm half Scot-Irish, half Norwegian. I'm tall and curvy with a smaller waist than hips. I'm not one of those gals you have to shake the sheets out in the morning to find and I usually carry a very large caliber, even concealed. The Kimber 1911 is not some little girls gun, it's sturdy. (I like that, I'm not a big girl, I'm STURDY). But the weight is distributed quite evenly in the Talon, the design naturally fitting where my thumb would rest, making it easy to hold the platform steady while the gun was removed for a quick draw.

I admire any holster that cares more about a commitment to a product that will fit the average adult form than trendy style. Dragon Leatherworks is also now offering the Talon with a Limited Lifetime Warranty. If workmanship of the holster fails during normal use to the original owner, it gets repaired free of charge. If it can't be repaired, it will be replaced with a brand new one. I don't know too many companies that will that any more without you paying an additional fee.


Male or female shooter, a good holster makes the carry much more comfortable and with comfort comes safety. A good holster will allow you to carry a heavier gun with less discomfort and greater concealment.

I had a couple of colleagues look at it as well, and both agreed, it looked nice, it fit well. In the first photos of just the gun and holster, the leather was still a little stiff and the gun didn't seat all the way in. That is not unusual for a brand new holster made thick, quality materials. But you may wish to make sure you get a "break in" time before wearing it for self defense. Just as I wouldn't try to run from a pack of zombies wearing brand new leather boots, I'm going to wear a holster a little time before taking it out in the field, giving the leather time to release its newness and embrace its new friend.

After I'd had time to wear it a while, it really started to fit like a glove. With just a few hours to break it in from the "new holster stiffness", the trigger fit into the holster as it was designed, and with more wearings, over time, would be even better.. The price, less than $100, half the cost of some other accessories we carry.

A good holster is a blend of quality materials and commitment to quality, designed by a mind that knows form and purpose is more important than flash, something that will hold up in thick or thin. Like those we choose to keep company with, strong, yet flexible, designed of stern stuff, giving and dependable.

The perfect partnership of design and function.

Are We There Yet?

For my pilot readers, yes, that is Jeppesen CSG-1P Slide Graphic Computer (E6B as we knew it as student pilots) used by Spock to figure the time before impact. I wonder if I still have one.

In a few weeks, as soon as the doc gives the OK, I need to get back out and get a checkride in an airplane for currency. I don't fly often but it's a skill set I not only enjoy, but don't wish to lose. Even if it means a checkride.

For, like any pilot, I hate taking exams.

Written or otherwise. I think it started in early school years when I got a question really wrong.

The question was: "Where do women mostly have curly hair?

Apparently, the correct answer was Africa.

Checkrides are the one part of the job that I think most civilian commercial and military pilots hate. Doesn't matter how many hours you have, how many missions you've flown. And they don't get any easier. Doing maneuvers to perfection while everything on the airplane seems to fail, one after another, while a check airmen is peering over one shoulder and those stripes on your uniform are resting on the other. It never mattered how many years I'd done it or the fact that I'd never failed one, taking that first step into the briefing room to start the oral, my mind would go completely blank. Circumstance and fear had a way of subtracting information from my brain with surgical precision.

Yet somehow, when the first question came up, everything resusitates, not by sheer brilliance but simply from the fact that I'd studied my rear end off for weeks ahead of time. To this day I can still draw the entire electrical system of a 727 on an unfolded cocktail napkin.

I think it looked something like this.

click to enlarge

On Recollection

"It has been said that crowds are stupid, but mostly they are simply confused, since as an eyewitness the average person is as reliable as a meringue lifejacket." -Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals

If I personally were to have a choice of witnesses to a tragedy to talk to, give me the child. Their view is simply what they have seen, normally unclouded by judgement, history, politics and expectations. Certainly intelligence bears into it and the developmental differences of the child. The child also needs be of an age where they can remember and describe events, understanding the difference between the truth and a lie. But they often pick up on things that the adults miss even if, in and of itself, it might not be admissible in a legal setting. Sure the technical detail is not there and children can often mix reality with fantasy, but often the heart of what they experienced is ascertainable, containing details often lost to others.


Those that piece together such places, unfortunately, have had to use such recollections before. You can watch all the TV shows you want, but unless you are a first responder or LEO you don't really realize what it is like. Air laden with smells of fuel perhaps and smoke, stale sweat and the dense coppery smell of death close up. The frantic sounds, shouts and fluid movements of water or people, trickling down to a slow drip as the EMS vehicles move away. Sometimes in a hurry, too often not, the sound expanding away from the hollow rumbles of voices left behind to glean the concrete fields of evidence, searching for words and actions that explain.

Sometimes there is a crowd, sometimes in that crowd is a youngster, looking around, taking it all in, while the adults eyes are frantically forming words in their head while look for a TV camera, or swaying in shock, zombie-like, eyes closed in almost drugged immobility.

A child's recollection is simple, not so much words, but sounds, smell, movement, direction,things others might have missed. With a parents hands hovering near, those movements we all know of protection, it will be asked if the child could give their remembrance, just as was done with any adults that were present, letting them make a statement of what they remember, to define the things already known. Sometimes their statements, made with simple words and hands, are startling in their detail; details that confirm the tangibles that are known at that time. Tangiles that can become evidence. With that the search for truth continues.


For some adults do not do so well in recollection. An event to one person is seen in a totally different way than another. Both believe they are totally accurate and it's often hard to derive the reality from their truths. I've read accounts in the newspaper of events I actively participated in, only to shake my head in wonder at how very inaccurately it was portrayed, the words written for sensation and effect, not for accountability. I've seen it in a court room, a place where even in the scrubbed emptiness, the smell of spent violence, lust, graft and vengeance are discernible. Where even in the quiet you feel the reverberations of badgering and bitterness, sinners and saints, actors in a role, while we the public hope for that one legal expert that can see through all of that to do what is right based on reality, not motivation.

But getting to the heart of the matter is difficult. Look at the media, at some of the written chronicles on the Internet of recent tragedies, and the variances in discussing the same person or event, the same bit of history. Some are honestly detailed yet succinct, while others, especially when they feel they or their cause have been wronged, are so outside the realm of what happened that they do nothing but provoke incredulity.

Tragedies bear their own truth and it is usually NOT what is in much of the mainstream media.

Life is never easy, and finding out why things happen as they do remains something that haunts the edges of not just a crime scene, but our very lives. We want to know, desire it. Yet, unless we look at events with the clear eyes of a child, unmotivated by greed, political leanings or prejudice, we may find that the words we read, the blames being made, are no more sweet deceptions.

I'm getting bored. A medical update- Now With BACON !!

I've had almost three weeks of soup, saltines and bland. I'm tired of " resting" and my favorite person to get into trouble with is away, someplace cold. (OK, colder). On top of that, I'm supposed to eat sort of "bland" for a few weeks. (cookies, what cookies?). I'm going to try and ease back into work slowly, a little virtual office scientific stuff, case studies, research, forms, forms and more forms and books with no pictures, with squirrel headquarters OK. But strict rules. No beer or bovines. No rappelling. No trying to climb Tony Stewart. No annoying any Congressmen, camels or cartels. So I will find my fun where I can, and it's THIS for dinner.

BACON Wrapped Jalapeno Cream Cheese Stuffed Prawns

4 large Prawns
2 oz cream cheese, softened
2 jalapenos diced
1/16 to 1/8 tsp. ancho chili powder (ancho is a smokey heat so a little more won't delaminate your tongue)
4 large slices of bacon
1/2 Tablespoon honey (with extra for drizzling somewhere).

Shell, de-vein and butterfly prawns.
Mix cream cheese, peppers, ancho chili powder and a 1/2 tablespoon of the honey
Lay a spoon full of the cream cheese mixture down the middle of each prawn.
wrap each with a slice of bacon

Wrap prawn with slice of bacon.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Drizzle each prawn with a little more honey and consume. Hide remains, pretend you've been napping as requested. Do NOT tell your medical care professional.

Home on the Range. Standin' Tall, Standin' Proud, and hoping like heck my doctor isn't reading this.

You found me how??

I sometimes check my sitemeter to see how some people find my blog, be it from other bloggers, word searches, etc. I had 4 people come to Home on the Range with the Yahoo word search.

"combat aikido women"

Gosh, I wish I hadn't bought that bottle of Shōchū and a video camera.

How about a Little Coffee with Your Cookie

Molasses Cookies With Espresso Sugar.

The sugar is from the amazing Artisano's in Indianapolis. I don't know if they ship, but their flavored sugars are something as are their other products. I tried the onion sugar sprinkled on some aspargus, drizzled with olive oil and roasted(mmm) and then had to figure out something to do with the espresso sugar I purchased. It's not table sugar mixed with finely ground espresso powder, it's chunky sugar crystals infused with espresso.

I made the recipe up, so there was no telling what the end result in the lab was going to be. I was cooking in a friends kitchen and I promised I wouldn't create too much mayhem. It didn't start well.

First off I broke the spatula.

Me: (walking into living room with object) "Mayhem has begun"

Friend: (laughing) "What!? I've had that spatula 20 years! That spatula survived college parties!! (meaning, that spatula survived pre med students and tequila).

Me: "Well, let me explain scientifically.

(No, wait. That's the plan for an impending date.)

Me - "It just, uh. . . broke".

I was forgiven when the first batch came out of the oven.

Soft, crisp just around the edges, a little chewy in the middle, but not too much. Flavored with nutmeg, Vietnamese cinnamon and ginger with the slightly sweet undertone of espresso, and rolled in more crunchy expresso sugar.

A lot of molesses cookies harden into little kevlar pucks on day two. Day two these are still soft. I have a feeling there's not going to be a day three.

click to enlarge photos

Why I Carry a Firearm

Because bad guys rarely shoot themselves.

Because rapists consider a whistle as foreplay.

Because I can't throw a pit bull at 1200 feet per second.

Because I'd look stupid pushing a gun around in a stroller.

Because my Acme Dehydrated Boulders are in my other bag.

Because a cop that isn't in my purse is at least 10 minutes away.


Because lightning never hits the bad guy at the opportune time.

Because Steven Seagal isn't here to hide behind (literally, not figuratively).

Because the only belt I earned in martial arts is the one that kept my shirt on.

Because throwing a jar of angry bees just pisses off the average armed burglar.

Because a running chainsaw is just hard to get through the aisle at Quick E Mart late at night.

Because to run, I need a sports bra that makes me look like I'm expecting an assassination attempt.

Because with a Smith and Wesson, it doesn't matter that I have the upper body strength of Justin Bieber.

Because if you think an underwire bra is uncomfortable, try a couple of Ninja Stars in your shirt pocket.

Because when I say (deadpan) "Stop, or I'll kick your butt" it doesn't sound as scary as when Chuck Norris says it.

Because tying angry Grizzlies to the front, side and rear of my car might stop the average carjacker, it's a bitch in traffic.

Because as a law abiding citizen, the United States Constitution affirms that right, and my city and state support it.

Because the world is not the one I grew up in.

- Brigid (c) Home On the Range 2011

On Perfection

The night was so cold, I dreamt of wind swept prairie covered in snow. In my dreams, a form I could recognize, yet not touch, fire in his hair, fire in his eyes, speaking to me though I could not hear, mouth moving as if gently tasting, and I woke up. . . . .

a teddy bear on my face, laying in a little bed shaped like a race car.

Still, a good dream and a good way to start a winter day. The neighborhood is hushed. I'm not sure what time it is, as I don't see a clock on the wall or wear a wristwatch. I have one, left to me by my mother, given to me, not so that I remember time, for hers was short, but to forget it. Forget it as I move out into the world gathering the wind, not holding my breath to conquer it, the folly of many a philosopher and fool.

The household is quiet, the little one out with his Mom, RB, working late, still asleep down the hall. The realtor is showing my house again this morning, hopefully it will look as beautiful as it does outside now, the yard perfect with snow, the sun glinting between low clouds. No dog tracks, no human or squirrel tracks. only an old tree standing with the enduring and ageless patience of static stillness, waiting for something. Perhaps waiting for me to venture out into the rasping cold of January.

Barkley and G Dog stay much closer in towards the house in this single digit weather, so this part of the property is untouched by fido or form. A perfect spot for a photo.

The neighborhood slumbering, I put on my snow boots and clothes, grab the camera and headed out to get a picture of the old tree, its form wrapped in fresh, pristine powdery snow. As I trudged out towards the back property, the dogs went into their dogloos with a treat to gnaw on. The snow was ankle deep, innumerable shadows on the ground as still as if they had been laid down upon it as stencils, sunlight just a pencil tracing, drawing dark and light.

Back behind the trees, the sound of a train dying away to the click of a watch that is not there, running through another month, running through another winter somewhere far away, fire in his eyes, fire in his hair. The sound hangs in the air like punctuation, the clouds curled up above in small catnaps of infinity, only my small form, and my camera here to capture them. The train moves away, in unshaken pull and balance, consuming inertia itself, its desire only a breath of steam in the cold air.

The light wasn't good, a blue cold fragility that speaks of shattered thought, but the setting was too perfect not to at least try, worthy of getting out in single digit weather.

I lifted my camera, the tree and the untouched snow around it, perfectly framed. From behind me, a form, a shadow, breath clouding the air in anticipation of that which he knows that he wants.

I know now why Hemingway kept cats.

Sharks with Lasers

"You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that can't be done. Can you remind me what I pay you people for? Honestly, throw me a bone here."
— Dr. Evil (from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery)

Lasers. Occasionally misspelled "lazer" in fiction. Actually the name "L.A.S.E.R." is an acronym of "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation", since that's what lasers do.

The majority of us learned about lasers from TV. Laser weapons and Hollywood. Laser weapons on TV hit high on the cool scale but how real is it? Remember, Hollywood science rules and the energy weapons depicted usually move at the speed of light. In actuality, energy weapons move a lot slower than the speed of light (and sometimes slower than the bullets on the same show). The Hollywood ones can also be dodged. You're seen it, our hero sees the person aiming the ray gun at them and going for the trigger in in that split second he's able to hide behind a rock or whatever. If the bad guy is hit, he is instantly zapped and vaporized. If the good guy is hit, he just stumbles back a few feet. There were all kinds of such weapons in the movies. Retro ray gun was the death ray. Real handguns bowdlerized into energy guns were TV's version of space age family friendly firearms. A lot of it was simply made up, a lot of it was technology even now, terribly outdated.


But TV physics is TV physics. There's a common misconception that laser beams cauterize wounds, but trust me, real laser wounds are every bit as ugly and bloody as knife wounds. Heat from a laser only makes a tiny bloodless hole on TV. NOT. In reality, it can cause the water in the body to boil, expand and rip the surrounding tissues apart, mimicking the injury from high velocity bullet impact.

Energy weapons in fiction will always have knockback (which would be OK) and recoil (which makes absolutely no sense at all), in spite of the fact that energy has negligible momentum. Of course, no matter what the laser's frequency and the medium through which it is shooting, it WILL make loud futuristic ZAP noises. But laser weapons on TV aren't a realistic depiction of how real energy based weapons would work, they're not intended to be. They are stand in's for some real guns to appease the liberal producers or more often to simply establish the show as being sci fi (and thereby higher up on the cool scale). If you look at some of the very early futuristic TV and movies, the laser bolt effects looks a lot like machine gun fire using tracer bullets. This may be that many of the artists and engineers that worked on the earliest of such films have have been relating their own war experiences in inspiring that effect, many having served in WWII.

Some later shows confused lasers weapons with plasma weapons, which fire really hot gas, not light beams.. Necessarily, plasma weapons can't use light speed projectiles as, having mass, they would be susceptible to all sorts of physics that make approaching the speed of light extremely difficult.


Plasma weapons are almost always depicted as producing ludicrous (usually green) glowing puffballs that somehow avoid mixing into the air, sometimes hand waved as magically auto generated magnetic containment. An actual plasma weapon might be as useful as a gun that shoots steam; sort of like your very own flamethrower, only hotter.

Laser weapons are here, and they're being continually refined. One of the first known to the civilian science geek was the Airborne Laser and THEL. The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed, (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system is a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified Boeing 747-400F. Designed primarily as a missile defense system to destroy tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs) while in boost phase, the YAL-1 with a low-power laser was test-fired in flight, at an airborne target in 2007. A high-energy laser was used to intercept a test target in January 2010, and the following month, successfully destroyed two test missiles. (1)

It's pretty impressive. The COIL, is comprised of six interconnected modules, each as large as an SUV turned on-end and weighing about 6,500 pounds. When fired, the laser produces enough energy in a five-second burst to power a typical American household for more than an hour. (2)


The cooperative Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) Demonstrator ACTD was initiated by a MOU between the US and the Government of Israel in 1996. The THEL is a high-energy laser weapon system that uses proven laser beam generation technologies, proven beam- pointing technologies, and existing sensors and communication networks to enhance active defense capability in counter air missions.

The joint program was initiated to develop a THEL demonstrator using deuterium fluoride chemical laser technologies. THEL uses a Deuterium-Fluoride (DF) laser. NF3 and C2H4 are first reacted in multiple, side-by-side, high-pressure combustion chambers using an oxidizer (NF3) rich mixture that generates free F atoms. After ignition the combustion-generated F atoms, mixed with combustion by-products and a He diluent, flow into the laser cavity. A mixture of He and deuterium is also injected into the laser cavity, and DF is generated in an excited state as deuterium reacts with the free F atoms. The laser cavity is now ready to produce a laser beam.

Can I say "awesome" without sounding like a nerd?

THEL uses both Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitrogen Trifluoride. Nitrogen Triflouride (NF3) NF3 is used as a fluorine source in high-energy chemical lasers. Two applications are THEL and MIRACL (Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser) at White Sands Missile Range. Type 70 Hydrogen Peroxide is a critical element in the Anti-Ballistic Laser (ABL) and THEL Programs. Chemical lasers are the only class of HEL able to achieve megawatt power levels at century's turn. The MIRACL is a deuterium fluoride (DF) laser operating at a wavelength of 3.8 microns that has been in operation at the megawatt level since the mid 1980s at the White Sands HEL Systems Test Facility. It suffered from inherent propagation losses at full power in the operational wavelengths. DF technology found a home in the US Army/Israeli THEL, where propagation losses were mitigated by lower power levels and a crossing target.

Lasers - Deadlier, cooler.

Then, there is DARPA's HELLADS (High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System), light enough to fit on a fighter jet or drone aircraft, yet powerful enough to fire a 150 kilowatt beam of energy.

The Star Wars laser cannon may be closer than we think.

There have been high energy laser weapons in development powerful enough to bring down missiles (i.e MEHEL Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser). However their sheer size and weight (from the cooling systems needed) has precluded placement on just the largest aircraft.


HELLADS has a unique cooling system to save weight. The high-energy laser uses a liquid that has the same angle of refraction as the mirrors inside the blaster. That way, the "ray gun" can fire away, even while it's being cooled. Currently in development, the demonstrator device will be tested and scaled to achieve the low weight specifics and size needed for smaller airborne vehicles. Then the final phase of engineering, fabricating, integrating and demonstrating the complete HELLADS weapon system on a tactical platform. (3)

This sort of compact system is getting very close to what science fiction writers since H.G. Wells have envisioned when writing about the heat rays. More recently, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote about laser cannon in their 1974 novel Mote in God's Eye:

"The intruder came from here. Whoever launched it fired a laser cannon, or a set of laser cannon - probably a whole mess of them on asteroids, with mirrors to focus them - for about forty-five years, so the intruder would have a beam to travel on... "

Solid-state pulsed lasers, which fire bursts of energy and which are lighter than fluid-based lasers, but harder to cool, and electrolasers which ionize the air so that electric current can be sent along the beam's path, are already in development. More science than we ever saw watching Star Trek as children.

In actuality, these characteristics make lasers far more effective, and terrifying as weapons than anything we see in TV or movies, sharks not withstanding. It's probably also why we're not seeing realistic laser weapons in children's shows ("I love you, you love me. ZAP !!")

Since I won't get to play with any of these such toys, I'll happily embrace laser technology as I need and can obtain to protect my world. Viridian makes one of the best laser sights on the market, hands down, and they have their new catalog out. This one caught my eye, not only for the cool products, but the fact that page 3 (and 10) is M., my weekend shooty buddy and best friend from International Sneaky Service (sorry ladies, he's married)


Why green? The guys on TV got that part right. Green is much brighter and more effective than red in most conditions. Ordinary red lasers can be next to impossible to see in most daylight conditions. The benefit of a green laser is that it is much more visible, allowing for it to be used anytime, day or night, indoors or outdoors, permitting the LEO or civilian defense or sport shooter to track the target point quicker and more accurately. Additionally, because green lasers are so much more visible to the human eye, you can actually see a very intimidating visible beam in low-light conditions.

Nothing knocks the fight out of bad guys like the sudden appearance of a C5 equipped sub-compact. The brilliant green laser says “don’t mess with me", 24 hours a day.

For may not have to worry about storm troopers but I do have to worry about home invasions, muggers and murders. I'll take the best technology out there, and craft it for my use.

(1) DoD 4120.15-L, Model Designation of Military Aerospace Vehicles. U.S. Department of Defense, May 12, 2004.
(2) Grill, Tech. Sgt. Eric M. "Airborne Laser fires tracking laser, hits target". Air Force, March 21, 2007.
(3) http://www.space.com/

Dessert - A How To Guide

How to cheat at dessert.

Pistachio Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

It uses a cake mix, and a few simple ingredients, mixed in one bowl. You don't even have to marble the batter, it does it as it bakes. With pistachio and dark chocolate, with a subtle undertone of vanilla and orange, it will score as high with your household as any time consuming creation.

click to enlarge photo, come on, I know you want to

A View From the Edge, and Back

The biopsy report came back from the pathologist today. The tumor was invasive but NOT malignant. Surgery over, no further treatment is required other than to just take it easy for a few more weeks.

I can't thank everyone enough for their prayers. Somewhere up north the sun is shining and my guardian angel will be resting a little easier after his mission today is done.

Driving the Kahr - a Review of the PM40

There are few times I don't carry (I'll take my chances in the shower, I could always clobber them with the Irish Spring ). There are weapons I carry when where I'm going warrants some heavy iron, and then there are the "back up gun" days. When I'm comfortable with something smaller, lighter, that will conceal a little easier. A gun that's reliable,accurate and will preferably chamber a duty-caliber round. I love my Sig, S and W's and the XD's but I was wanting something a little bigger in caliber, while still remaining decently concealable.

Enter the Kahr PM40. It's ultra-compact without being wimpy, double action only (DAO), chambered in .40 S&W. For a long time my BUG was a S&W J Frame, (Speer GDHP 135gr +p) but when a friend bought one of these I had to try it, and liked it well enough to add to the "want to buy" list, though the S & W will always have first place in my heart.

When the first Kahr pistols appeared on the market in 1994 they were constructed entirely of carbon steel. The Kahr models such as the K9 were praised as being well-made and solidly constructed, but criticized for their excessive weight. Excess weight is a disadvantage in any weapon intended for concealed carry. Kahr took this in mind in refining the line, introducing pistols which were physically smaller, as well as a line of polymer framed models. The PM series combined both these approaches, introducing polymer framed pistols that were also the smallest Kahr models ever produced

This one came with a stainless steel slide, barrel, and trigger. The stainless slide is finished in a blackened matte that almost borders on satin. With the many stainless components corrosion or pitting on warm, sweaty days won't be too much of a problem. It does sport a somewhat heavy spring so when you rack the slide you will need to grip it and rip it.

With an empty magazine it's only about 17 ounces and is less than an inch thick. It shoots a lot like a Glock 27 but it’s even smaller and thinner. I put a S&W 642 on top for a size comparison and the PM40 is smaller than the J frame, (and thinner when you take the cylinder and grips on the J frame into consideration).

Caliber? It’s a 40 S&W! Of course, there will be lots of debate as to what is the best ammo for it, though the Federal HST in .40 is quite the potent round, solid in a compact gun.

Is this a fun gun to shoot? Well, it put holes exactly where I wanted on paper. That in and of itself is fun anytime, but I'd have to say not for use all afternoon long with this as a target gun. Give me my Sig or the 1911 or the new XDM, but it's fun enough to keep proficient in case

There is no external safety, the gun relying rather on that long trigger pull (think revolver). In an adrenalin situation, the fine motor skills are the first thing to go. Simplified controls are a positive attribute in my opinion and contribute to a desirable package for concealment use.

The trigger pull, though long, is silky smooth without being insubstantially light, but there's the matter of recoil. A little more than I imagined but quite manageable, if you're not going to shoot 100 rounds at a time through it. It's a light pistol with a high pressure cartridge, you're going to have recoil.

But the Kahr ergonomics are excellent and it's quite controllable. I'd say it was closest to the .38 special J-frame with heavy +P loads. If you're going to fire off a whole box of ammo, the web of your hand is going to smart. But that's not why I have it. It's lightweight, it's powerful, and it's small. It is also a gun you want to practice with. Like the .45 caliber variant it can have some gun handling challenges in rapid fire due to the heavier recoil and resulting muzzle rise, the same as about any small and light large bore pistol. Not an issue for an experienced shooter who practices.

Size Matters. About 5 and a half inches long and 4 inches high, it will fit under most of my shirts without obvious bulk. Kahr has done a bang up job in making a weapon that will fit perfectly in my delicate but large hand. If you've got, not big, but huge hands, this might not work, but this is for concealed right? Small concealed. If you have Shrek sized hands and want something that fits it perfectly you'd best look at a full-framed pistol. It's solid, and if you need to point it at someone, the look of it alone will get their attention more than that slim little Kel Tec.


The compact size of this piece makes it an excellent choice for carrying. It comes with two stainless magazines, one 5 rounder that is flush with the mag well and one 6 rounder that sticks out below the mag well with a place for your pinky to grip.

But if you try it and the grip just isn't going to work, even considering why you are carrying it, you might look elsewhere. This is not a gun you can mess around with your grip with. "Firm and relaxed" need not apply. You need to grip this gun like a snake with PMS. Hold On. After your first shot, when you realize that the recoil you expect is much more pleasant than something light weight in the .44 Magnum category (ow, ow ow) you might be inclined to smile and relax just a little. Don't. Hold on tight. You'll be surprised how well you can shoot right off the bat with a firm grip. It's also quite accurate, with a firm hand.

Straight out of the box I shot this target with my first magazine at about 30 feet. I bent my support hand a little more on the next round, but I was pleased. My range buddies didn't snicker at me either.

The only problem I had with it was when the gun was new. I place a loaded mag in the weapon and pulled the slide manually back and let it go. It did not go all the way into battery. I then went from slide locked back position and used the thumb release to chamber a round, and perfect! I think that was more a one time, being new thing, as after a few rounds through it it worked great, no misfeeds, misfires or jams. The manufacturer states that the gun is not to be considered to be reliable (aka broken in) until at least 250 rounds have been run through it, and I agree though 500 rounds was more like it. I did not have that problem again.

The sights? Bar-dot like my Sig. Easier to pick up than 3 dot in my opinion.


My only complaint is that slide release. The pistol is so small, and the release so sharp, I ended up away with painful gouges on my shooting hand thumb until I adjusted my grip a bit away from the frame. I don't know if it's enough that I'd want to take a file to those edges though.

As for price, well they are a tad expensive. They run between $660 and $700 for the full stainless one depending on where you get it. That's a lot of cash in today's economy for a back up gun and you could buy a couple of Bersa's for that amount. But you are paying for life long quality and although quite a few have been sold in the local gun stores you rarely see them come back in the used guns.

All in all, it's a super small, light, high quality, big caliber pistol that you can depend on. There are other guns out there in that category but this is one that I like. An excellent piece. . . . to support or reinforce.

I just couldn't resist

Tomorrow a better self defense post - a review of the Kahr PM40 pistol.

with a h/t to Langiappe's Lair for the video


Man: This is boring.

Kangaroo: THIS IS SPARTAAAAA !!

Small Bites

The urge to bake is primal. But what to make and what do I want to nibble on? Something with coconut? Or chocolate?. How about both. I took a macaroon style recipe and dropped it by spoonfuls on dark chocolate brownie batter that has the most subtle hint of coffee.

click to enlarge photos

The recipe will
be in the comments.

Love -
Brigid