Blackwater Training ?? !! Any Interest

[pitpony]

I'm sure most of you have heard of Blackwater. See the web site here:

http://blackwaterusa.com/index.html

I have no connection but would love to take advantage of the expertise and partake in some of the training they offer shooters. I'd also love to visit their vast training facility in North Carolina late spring or early summer.

Take a look at the extensive training course they offer. Some of the training options are open to the public while many of the more exotic ones are restricted to Law Enforcement and Military clients.

Of the courses open to the public, unfortunately, they are normally only open to US citizens. They will however contract for a special course for us Canadians if we can gather a minimum of 7 students. They will adapt a training program based on the Handgun tactical courses they offer to our exact specification. Cost would be in the range of $1000 per student for 5 days training, using about 2500 rounds (which we purchase from them). They also provide lodging at a reasonable extra cost (described on the web site).

We would need to get our shooting gear down there (paper work) or they can rent out everything you would need if you don't want to bother bringing your firearms down there.

All we need to do is get a group of 7 or more participants. If we can gather such a group they will draw a contract, get approval from the US government for the names, a process which takes about a month to complete.

I'm gaging interest. Can we get some of us avid shooters interested in such an opportunity? I'd be happy to organize it if so.

Please post if you are interested into expolring further.

..jack

 

[targettarget]

Buy the hat and just say you went.

$29.99 buy it now on eBay.

I will give Mr. Prince some credit. He took something that there wasn't really a market for and made it a huge business.

 

[echo4lima]

Let me know if you are serious about this and need an 'in'. A fella I served with works on the training side of BW. Mark Irish is his name, might be able to smooth the way in for ya.

 

[pitpony]

There must be some interest in professional training out here. We need 4 people.

 

[SantaClawz]

This would be one expansive trip.

 

[wicked_police]

I went last July for a pistol course. Worked out to between $2500 and $3000 for a 5 day course. It worked out great for me though, since it was for work.

That included the cost of the course, ammo, gun/holster rental, lodging, food, airfare and car rental.

It's not cheap at all.
And I'm not sure why you would need anything specifically tailored to 'Canadian use'. Any of the pistol courses would be good to learn some new techniques and better your basic skills.

The instructors that I had were extremely skilled, and their delivery was excellent. They teach some different techniques that we don't recommend for our guys, but they were able to explain why they use those techniques. It wasn't a 'because it's how we do it' attitude at all.
I've heard from some other guys(DHTC) that regularly train there that not all the instructors are as good or professional. So maybe I got lucky.

If you can get in on a course, and can afford it, I recommend it.

Be prepared to spend above and beyond the costs I listed above though....
They have an excellent pro-shop.

 

[pitpony]

They tell me that if we are not US citizens they can't admit us to the regular public classes and need to write a special training contract that need US government approval depending on participants. Takes a month to get it.

It's not that we need a special curriculum but if you contract for a private course you get a chance to tailor it for content that our group may want to have.

You can bring your own firearms to the training. Canadian ATA to the border the appropriate US paperwork to fly them or to drive through or even ship. Folks in our club do it all the time for US destinations and events. This will cut down on the costs.

The course would be around $1000 per person if we had 10 people. Ammunition extra and travel of course is additional. We would probably combine the trip with a side trip to Myrtle Beach for an extra week.

..jack

 

[capp325]

I am potentially interested. Is the cost of ammo included in the $1000 fee, or is it extra?

 

[Airborn_69]

CF MP's & SF go down there regularly.

 

[TheGamerXxX]

Wow... if this was sometime next year I'd be totally interested... although coming up with 3-3.5 K might be the problem lol

I hope this works out so you can do it again in the near future.

Good luck.

Luke

 

[Halger280HVMag]

Heads-up.

Before organizing any kind of group-buy, you must have permission from the owner of this site.

PM greentips for permission.

 

[pitpony]

Ammo is extra of course. Take a good look at the web site and course descriptions for details.

Hey guys the cost of getting down there can vary. You can fly cheap these days or drive down, we will probably drive from Nova Scotia.

They offer accommodation from bunk house at $40/day to more private at $100. It's on the site.

If you arrange to bring down your own hardware the cost is lower.

The $3500 figure quoted earlier was for someone doing it on corporate expenses where the cost was not the big issue. I'm certain it can be done for about $2500 or so if one is careful.

I will interface with BW and produce a detailed cost breakdown once we have the minimum 7 shooters interested in the course.

It would be awesome if we can get this to happen this spring.

..jack

PS: I wasn't realy considering this to be a group buy but I'll check.

 

[RobAK]

Locked pending GT's approval.