This is fantastic news...I'm out of country on the date, but I'll have to make sure my schedule is free for next year, it looks fantastic.
For someone who has shot a few local 3-gun runs, what would a fella want to do to get ready for something like this? I have a home range, I can do almost anything out to ~250, but I'm assuming the tricky part is endurance?? I don't mind the cold if there's coffee, but at 55 the old bones fight me a little more than they used to so wondering what training is worthwhile (hopefully not a stupid question). Also, I had a black badge in Ont before the move, but haven't hit a match in 2 years, what do I have to have for holster out here? thanks guys, man this looks fun.
Preparation is pretty simple,the events are very safety orientated and the general mottos are
"don´t do anything you can´t do safely" and
"we don´t care if you don´t do part of a stage because you can´t do it safely, you´ll get a bunch of penalties but still be able to do the rest of the match vs getting hurt or being unsafe and getting DQ´d"
Basically each event is a competition and it is taken seriously from a competitive perspective but everyone is there to have fun and that´s what they want you to have. This is why the events are so welcoming, because everyone there is cheering, celebrating and laughing not rushing forward hoping to spot a hit on a no shoot or arguing that the hole is mostly in the C zone not the A zone or whatever. You survive the event with everyone else, if you go in with a super IPSC attitude you might have a bad time.
So I digressed
Ranges: If you can practice out to 300m with PCC/Rifle the events reward accuracy at longer ranges. 250 is probably fine so long as you know the holds required for 300
Endurance: Each stage has a par time of 4min, how you approach that is up to you and your personal fitness but remember it´s a maximum of 4 minutes hard work then an hour to recover, it is achievable. Note: Perhaps once or twice in an event there may be a longer piece of work such as the stretcher carry where a squad had to carry someone 600m on a stretcher then from a static position shoot at targets out to 300m. Generally from what I´ve seen the event organisers recognise not everyone is 21 anymore and so if half the squad takes longer to get back to the firing line the other half has the choice of going back to help them or do press ups. This means the younger and fitter do more work and it helps even things out. Yes it´s not perfect but life is brutal and doesn´t care about how ageing is sucky. Also there are different divisions, Armoured division requires the shooter to carry a certain level of weight so you can simply avoid those divisions. Also where an obstacle can´t be overcome by someone there is normally an alternative. e.g. if you´re no longer able to climb over an 8ft wall they´ll let your crawl for a distance to become equally tired and consume time. It is frowned upon heavily to try and "game" the stage by taking advantage of this and can result in being beasted. e.g. If you´re a healthy 25yr old and you opt to crawl instead of climb the wall to try and game things so you get a shorter time you might find yourself crawling for longer than planned. Generally though the people who try to avoid the spirit of the event have a habit of not sticking around and/or being unabale to game many aspects of it.
note: Most people would benefit from losing several lbs of fat which several people I know have done after attending one of these events
Personal training: Lift some weights, practice correct body posture for lifting weights, do some steady state hiking then jogging or swimming (to reduce stress on joints), and lose some weight
Equipment: Race gear fails big time, keep it simple and effective. You may need to crawl through snow/mud or climb over an obstacle, your kit needs to be hard wearing and effective. Mag pouches and holsters in particular must be hardy. In one video I saw of a squad of 10 crawling 25m afterterwards there were several magazines, and other equipment left on the floor. I would advise having active retention for holsters.
You don´t need blackbadge and many of the events don´t even require one to reduce barriers to entry
At Night Brutality and the upcoming Winter Brutality the organisers arranged for free coffee for everyone from Pro Patria Coffee who are awesome and make really good coffee. At Winter Brutality last year Sterling Arms International made free hotdogs and hot drinks for everyone all day. There were also fire barrels
One guy I saw at Night Brutality was attending his first event and the company owner took an hour out of his time to walk him through everything and make him feel welcome. At the same event prizes were given out to those who put their hands up and said they were no longer safe to shoot because they were too tired and the owner made sure to shake their hands and thank them.
You will struggle to find a better culture than at these events
