Packman
Member
Tonight, I went rock climbing, like I do pretty much every Friday night.
However, tonight I was really pushing myself, and ended up exhausted. For those of you who've never tried it, rock climbing is very telling on your forearms and fingers.
When I went to clip my holster back onto my belt in the truck, I couldn't even use the clip. I had to wedge the belt into the clip in order to secure the holster. This concerned me, as I normally carry a S&W 3913, with a pretty heavy DA/SA trigger pull.
Sure enough, when I got home, I unloaded the gun and tried to dry fire it. As I suspected, my hands were so tired I couldn't pull the trigger in DA mode. I pulled out my .38 revolver, and had the same problem. The only SD gun I could operate properly was the XD .45, which is striker fired and has a much lighter pull.
Now, I think that under the stress of an SD encounter, the adrenaline being dumped into my system would probably overpower the tired muscles with no problem, but I'm not positive of that. In any case, it was sobering to have a gun on my belt that I might not be able to employ if the need arose.
Just something to consider: be aware of how your activities, including exercise and recreation, can affect your level of preparedness. It's the little things you don't expect that can make all the difference.
However, tonight I was really pushing myself, and ended up exhausted. For those of you who've never tried it, rock climbing is very telling on your forearms and fingers.
When I went to clip my holster back onto my belt in the truck, I couldn't even use the clip. I had to wedge the belt into the clip in order to secure the holster. This concerned me, as I normally carry a S&W 3913, with a pretty heavy DA/SA trigger pull.
Sure enough, when I got home, I unloaded the gun and tried to dry fire it. As I suspected, my hands were so tired I couldn't pull the trigger in DA mode. I pulled out my .38 revolver, and had the same problem. The only SD gun I could operate properly was the XD .45, which is striker fired and has a much lighter pull.
Now, I think that under the stress of an SD encounter, the adrenaline being dumped into my system would probably overpower the tired muscles with no problem, but I'm not positive of that. In any case, it was sobering to have a gun on my belt that I might not be able to employ if the need arose.
Just something to consider: be aware of how your activities, including exercise and recreation, can affect your level of preparedness. It's the little things you don't expect that can make all the difference.