Layers
Dry-Fire · At Home
Verified clear. Put on what you wear in December: a shirt, a sweater or fleece, and a coat. Twenty draws, clearing all of the layers. Work out whether you sweep them together or lift them, and which hand does what. A draw that works through one layer often fails through three.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Fifteen rounds at 7 yards from under all the layers, three per string, if your range allows work from concealment. Otherwise shoot from a ready position and do the draws dry.
Service Pistol
A duty jacket over a retention holster is two problems stacked. Solve both together.
Concealed Carry
If you cannot reach the gun through your winter clothes in a reasonable time, change how you carry until spring.
Carbine
Carbine version: mount the rifle over a heavy coat and check that the stock still reaches your shoulder.
AUX (when ready): draw through three layers to a verified sight picture in under three seconds.
You dress for the weather every day. Your carry setup has to be decided along with it.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
The layers will catch you once. Let it happen in practice.
Find which layer snags and where on your body it snags.
You are wearing this much clothing every time you take your family somewhere this month.
Decide on a winter setup and wear the same combination, so the draw stays the same.
Layer: run five reps with the coat zipped.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.
Dry-fire: no ammunition in the room. Verify the firearm is clear — twice. Use a safe backstop. When you finish, say it out loud: “Dry fire is over.”
The Four Universal Safety Rules
Non-negotiable. Every drill, every rep, every time. This applies to live fire and dry fire.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.