Over the weekend, a dedicated camera crew and I managed to finish my segments for the next (seventh) season of Personal Defense TV on the Sportsman Channel.  I am showing my age. I mentioned “filming” and “splicing,” and the lead cameraman – my older daughter’s age – just rolled his eyes.  The Evil Princess, present for part of it all, apologized for me with a sigh: “He’s so Twentieth Century!”  Such is life for us superannuated Luddites in the Digital Age.

I learned that on days in the Deep South where we did it –  where the weatherman predicted it would hit 96 degrees, but the temperature gauge on the street said a hundred even, and another source said “heat factor” was 106 – there are reasons why the Southern Gentlemen of old wore those white linen suits.  I, on the other hand, was standing in bright sunlight in front of a courthouse in a dark blue suit for multiple segments.  Come to think of it, there are also good reasons why my ancestors on my father’s side wore keffiyehs and stayed inside tents at high noon…

The experience reminded me that sometimes, old age and treachery do beat youth and skill. Each segment, for the last few years, has been filmed twice with three cameras running each time. This gives the final edit people six choices of angle for every element.  I discovered that even old guys debilitated by heat can start with their hand clear of the gun, draw a Ruger LCR snub-nose .38 from concealment and fire a center-zone hit in 0.97 to 1.06 seconds, and that a sneaky draw will get the shot off in something between a little over a quarter second and around a third of a second, depending whether it’s “Take One” or Take Two.”  Dunno which you’ll see when Season Seven debuts on the Sportsman Channel on October 1, but I’m just glad we had a PACT electronic timer instead of the hourglass I thought they’d be able to time me with.

I also learned, grappling with our new host Rich Nance, that 60-something people should not go to the ground hand-to-hand with 30-something Black Belts.  (Oh, wait…I already knew that.  Well, consider it a “reinforcement of the learning experience.” That’ll be on the show, too.) Nance is one of the best of the New Breed of police trainers, and you’ll learn much from what he has to offer on the show.

Thanks to Rich, David, Bill, Nate, and the rest of the PDTV team for a weekend where the fun balanced the exhaustion.  If any of y’all watch the Sportsman Channel, give me some feedback when the new season airs in third quarter 2012, and let us know here if it was all worthwhile.

 

In front of cameras and courthouse in 3-digit heat. Nate on left camera, Bill on right with mobile camera, old guy in monkey suit in middle.

 

 Puff in front of Mas’ pistol is Airsoft gas, not gunsmoke, as he demonstrates why bad guy role-player Rich Nance gets righteously shot in the back because he’s pointing the gun at good guys behind him.

 

Nate, left, and Dave take down the monster reflectors after a live-fire shooting scene.  Those damn things make ya blind…

1 COMMENT

  1. Mas,
    I won’t wait ’til new season starts. Thank you for your service, your training tips and your writing. While you are just a tad young to be my father, your tone of voice, calm and steady instruction and deliberate messaging are very familiar to me. Thanks for the show and all the effort you expend in defense of our 2nd amendment rights. Keep up the good work and God bless!

  2. It’s good to see the old courthouse still standing after all that water in Live Oak recently.
    I know you use “props” in movies , BUT , is that props I see holding up that building on the right in that picture ?

  3. LOL, better you than me Sir, but you ‘should’ have gotten a seersucker suit and you’d have fit right in down there! Looking forward to seeing the episodes!

  4. Mas, Old Fellow, you’re just lucky they didn’t saw you in half and count your rings – FILM indeed! If you can draw fast and hit dead center with that little .380 of Ruger’s I must compliment you. First time I shot one I almost dropped it – dang stingie little thing. Awaiting the “film” with bated breath.

  5. PD TV coming up on 7 seasons? Wow time flies when you’re having fun. It’s always been must see tv in our household – as is pretty much anything you are involved in. “Old guy in monkey suit”? Lol!

  6. Mass, it doesn’t matter what you wear or how young you are. You are a class act and I won’t miss any of your training programs on TV when it airs. God bless and thanks for the new PD TV schedule heads up. Looking forward to watch it.

  8. I look forward to seeing the new episodes. Personal Defense TV is the best program on the Sportsman Channel & your segments are the best part of that show. I record them all, so now I have a sizeable collection of your instructional videos from that show to supplement the instructional videos of yours that I already own. I just wish that you were producing a 30 minute show of your own every week!

    The segment that I found most helpful recently was your demonstration of how to scan for other possible assailants immediately following a shooting, while keeping an eye on the assailant who is down. As usual, your technique is very well thought out & better than any other that I’ve seen. Keep up the good work!

    In addition, for those who have never seen it, TAC TV is also worth watching.

  9. An hourglass! Too funny Mas.

    And on some days the dang glacier moves before I could get the shot off.

  10. Mas,
    I DVR the show and watch them alot, really like the advice you give. I will be glad when new episodes air. I know what you mean by the heat, I work in it everyday. There are times you can actually ring the sweat out of my clothes. I live in NW Georgia and have seen the temperture hit 110 without the heat index. I still carry everyday. Thank God for stainless steel.

  11. Until I read about Personal Defense TV in this particular blog post I had never heard of it.

    I’ve obviously missed out on a whole lot.

    I have a note made to start recording it on my DVR come October.

  12. Hey Mas, I’m on Verizon FIOS and the sportsman channel is unavailable unless I pay like an extra $40 a month for the EVERYTHING package.

    Is there an economical way for me to watch Personal Defense TV? I miss it from back when I had a different service.

  13. Mas, I would realy like to see you fireing a 38 snub through the pocket of a white linin suit !

    That would just be “Priceless” !

  14. The best parts of PD are Mas’ and Clint’s segments.
    And I know how old Mas is, just a little younger than me. Yes I know what film is and in some ways it’s better.

  15. Jo Ann-it was the LCR revolver in .38 special, not the .380. Though I’m sure the .38 it quite “interesting” to shoot as well. I have the LCP .380 and it’s definitely not my favorite thing to shoot. I try to put some rounds through it every time I get out to shoot though just keep my hand from getting to comfortable on larger guns. As for PDTV, I used to watch the show all the time when on Outdoor Channel but my cable provider hasn’t seen fit to bring on the Sportsman Channel. I’ve tried to get them to do it. I wish all the seasons were on DVD. Last I checked they only had some best of collections.

  16. Sian, I’m not on the marketing side of it, but as Jim says, I believe some DVDs are available. I’m not aware of any streaming option. I think it’s pretty much a case of subscribing to the Sportsman Channel.

  17. Even the cardboard IPSC target is wilting in the heat. I can’t imagine wearing a suit in that heat, but I appreciate your dedication Mas.

  20. I always heard it as, “Old age and trechery wins over youth and enthusiasm.” (Meaning, of course, that experience teaches us covert moves to insure our swift and decisive success.) Another old one from us in the upper age group……. “Don’t mess with an old guy, we’re too old to fight, so we’ll just kill you.” (Meaning, of course, seriously threaten an old guy/ family and receive swift justice.)

    As for the heat…… (which day was it?) My 14 yr. AirForce MP son texted me saying, “117 index, nothing trivial.”

    This IS the hottest and driest summer on record.
    As for clothing, please note that wearing a long sleeve white shirt does not prevent sun burn. Try 70+ sun blocker even under clothing. Seriously.

  21. Gary, that’s not my end of things, but they used to be for sale on the show’s website, and I see you can find a season’s worth here and there on Amazon.com.

  22. For DVDs go to the PD web sites. You can buy sets or singles. Sign up for emails and they’ll let you know when sales are coming up.

  25. Hey Mass,
    From the picture, it looks like you might have had to use “GPS” to
    find John’s Berm—-!

    It looks like a Sylvester Stallone jungle movie set!—- Ha,Ha.

    PS to,Bruce– Those “Props” you see in that picture, if you look close,
    you will see that they are, guide wires to telephone polls.