The Armed American's Complete Concealed Carry Guide to Effective Self-Defense

For multiple reasons, I decided it was time to own a self defense gun. Not having any experience with guns (ownership, how to shoot, safe gun behavior, etc.), I knew I would need training before I purchased a gun. I went in to a local shooting range and inquired about lessons. Within a week, I received my first private lesson, of just under 3 hours, from a retired former police officer, ex-Marine, and NRA certified instructor. It cost $125, certainly a reasonable fee. He was patient and thorough. But, when finished my lesson, I did not feel I was really ready and not sure of what type of gun to purchase. I did not want to go into gun ownership without feeling 100% ready. I understood that gun ownership was a big responsibility and should not be taken lightly. I found this set of DVDs on Amazon, and while initially thinking it was a lot of money, I realized just two more lessons from my instructor would be $250. So, this was not so expensive, relatively speaking, and would in all probability, be much more thorough. It is approximately 20 hours worth. I decided to try it and am very pleased I took the chance. This instruction was very thorough. As a teacher, I can say that the lessons were very well planned out, in logical step-by-step sequence, and very methodical. One can determine that much time went into planning the whole scope and sequence of the program. This is not haphazard; it is extremely planned out from the introduction to the final chapter. Mr. Kilcherman is a natural teacher with a good speaking voice. There are sufficient visuals to demonstrate each chapter, although more could have made the program a little stronger. I am sure the audience for this type of instructional program comes from all backgrounds and experiences, but I would have liked to have seen some of the lessons, particularly the chapters on the options of ways to conceal carry with various holsters and considerations of gun choice, to have included more information for women gun owners. (We don't wear the same types of clothes as men, particularly with not wearing belts on our pants, and our hands are not as large when making choices on which guns to purchase.) Other than that critique, I would recommend this program for all current and future gun owners, experienced or novice.

There's some good information on these disks. No question. The problem is Mr. Kilchermann is VERY wordy. Why use one word when you can use three? seems to have been his touchstone when putting these DVDs together. He also has some very discernible biases when it comes to equipment and guns (spoiler alert: he likes compact and sub-compact double-stack 9mms made by Glock). He also puts a great deal of value on shooting while you're moving and doesn't talk much about target discrimination. While he does talk about the percentage of misses in a "typical" gunfight, he doesn't mention that those "misses" DO end up hitting somewhere (or someone). You aways have to be aware of your background, and he skims over that in the interest of pitching his "getting off the X" principle. While getting off the X (moving as soon as you draw) is a good idea, I'm not so sure about accompanying that movement with a hail of bullets. If you're serious about concealed carry, this set will certainly get you started. But be sure to supplement your learning with books by people like Massad Ayoob and Tom Givens. Both these men have decades of experience carrying and shooting. There are also a number of books out there by people who've "been there and done that" (Paul Howe and Kyle Lamb come to mind), and their methods are well worth two or three looks. Actual range time and in-person classes with a qualified instructor are also important. Bottom line: You might start with these DVDs, but don't think they're all you need. They're just a first step.

I've been an LEO for almost 30 years. No, that doesn't make me perfect or knowledgeable in all aspects of gun carry, but I have been through a lot of training and I have a lot of experience. Even so, I was very impressed with the information presented in The Armed American's Complete Concealed Carry DVD set. I highly recommend it to EVERYONE who plans to, or who is currently, carrying a concealed handgun. I took meticulous notes from watching every second of all the DVDs and I had only one disagreement in opinion, which is regarding why Patrick does not recommend that the Armed Citizen (you and me) not carry, in addition to a handgun, a less-than-lethal weapon. While Patrick contends that effective communication and avoidance skills eliminate the need for carrying a less-than-lethal weapon, I am not in total agreement with him. In reality, the plain truth is that there are just some types of people and situations in which rationalization and avoidance skills will not work. And whenever a physical confrontation does not justify the use of lethal force, I want to be sure that I have a less-than-lethal weapon at the ready to protect myself, my family, and my handgun. Personally, I carry a kubotan at all times. It is blunt at both ends, legal to carry (in my state), and I cannot see how any jury would conclude that it is anything other than a piece of defensive equipment. I would also like to add that the three books Patrick suggested to read are great. I think I liked The Gift of Fear best. I recommend reading The Law of Self Defense by Andrew Branca and Massad Ayoob. Thank you, Patrick.

I'm a firearms instructor that has read a lot of books and reviewed a lot of DVDs. This is a set that I would recommend. Patrick Kilchermann has no military, police, or other codified training that would serve as "credentials"; however, everything he teaches would be difficult to challenge by any instructor. If you major complaint is that he doesn't have the credentials, then you need to set your bias aside. I've seen "credentialed" instructors that don't know as much as Kilchermann does. First, the negative - let's get that out of the way: The first DVD is a little preachy and a lot corny for me. But, based on the rest of the DVDs, it is honest and from the heart. It gives some perspective on the instructor. On one of the last DVDs he goes into how to clean a gun. Because there are millions of ways to do it, I won't comment on the actual cleaning. However, at one point, he discusses wiping down your magazine and cartridges, which is fine, except he states that you can use a light coat of oil on your rag when wiping them down. The magazine - YES - absolutely use a lightly oiled rag. The cartridges - NO! Use a clean dry cloth only. Oil will seep between the bullet and case, which contaminates the powder. That's about the only negative thing I have to say about the course. Now the good: Almost everything Kilchermann says is backed up with statistics. Furthermore, everything he says is right out of some of the best books on self defense with firearms. The material is divided into three categories: Situational Awareness, Practical Application, practice, and safe handling of the firearm, and Gear/Maintenance. This program puts together situational awareness from "Facing Violence" by Rory Miller with techniques to increase your awareness. A lot of people discuss the four color codes, but never tell you how to implement it and practice it. This material does that. The portion on shooting has some great ideas on methods to practice safely and move to live shooting. Though the one drawback is that this type of shooting does require a tactical bay, which is not available to most shooters. But this is a wide spread industry problem. His criteria for success is based on sound statistics directly from FBI reports. His maintenance portion the only area that I would question. But as I stated earlier, there's a million ways to clean a gun. I use Hoppes #9 Solvent like it's Frank's Hot Sauce. He uses it very sparingly and uses dental tools to pick out and remove carbon. Admittedly, I'm too lazy and lack the patience to use that technique.

Mr. Patrick Kilchermann, the instructor in the Complete Concealed Carry Guide to Effective Self-Defense course, is well versed in the armed self defense arena and delivers the subject curriculum with passion and from the heart. It is evident that he wants us “concealed carriers” to have the proper mental awareness, attitude, and effective firearms training for when it may become necessary to defend ourselves and family. The importance of knowing when to use deadly force is covered well. Additionally, as a firearms expert, he plainly illustrates the pros and cons of the different types of carry weapons and equipment so that a "Guardian" may make a knowledgeable choice in the selection of the weapon. Some of the true scenarios presented in the The 7 disk “Complete Concealed Carry Guide to Effective Self-Defense” course are graphic, but instill the serious responsibility that it is to be a concealed weapon carrier. Having purchased and gone through the 7 disk course, I feel much more aware and prepared for a self-defense situation. I have learned the grave responsibilities of being a lawful armed citizen. I would say to anyone who intends to purchase, or currently owns a weapon, or weapons for sport and/or self-defense, that he/she obtain the Complete Concealed Carry Guide to Effective Self-Defense course and take heed to what is presented therein. The course is well presented and not boring at all. It’s well worth your investment and time.

It's almost hard to not sound like one of the fake reviews that heap a ridicules amount of praise on a mediocre product but here it goes. Unless you've been carrying for years and have been in multiple shootouts there's just no way this series wont provide you with invaluable information and training as to whats really going to happen during an actual self defense situation. The simple factual based approach to concealed carry and the dispersion of myths and popular albeit dangerously far fetched ideas like going out to the range and slowly squeezing out few round at a small circular target that was 25 yards away with a high power handgun like i was doing would make me effective at a situation requiring deadly force. If I had bought this series at the beginning of my concealed carry journey I would not only be a much more effective armed citizen due to the training laid out but also the reality is I would have saved a lot of money by simply not having wasted so much on gear and ammo that wasn't going to be as effective as I thought. If you are serious about concealed carry you really owe it to yourself and to those you may be forced to protect to check out this series. It may seem like a lot for some DVDs but in reality it could actually end up saving you money and when compared to the overall cost of concealed carry equipment it's really not that much...especially when your life and the life of those you care for may depend on it.

This series is very informative but could have been done a little better and less of the same speaking position. Would be better if more visual examples would have been done to help give a better understanding. For the beginning disks a recorded lecture would have been just as good, if you are going to make a DVD, best to put in some additional items as it is a "visual" format. Overall it was good and I learned a lot, much better than the multi-state class I took (by 25 times).

More than half of the sentences he speaks are something he already mentioned previously. I have to patiently wait, listen to the old thing over and over again, in order to get something new next. I believe If the author has ever intended to trim these repeats, the number of CDs would easily be reduced from 7 to 3 or 4. Having said so, the CDs indeed teach me a lot, something I may not learn from other places easily.