[netw0rkpenguin]

The visit was definitely worth the drive. I'll let Rob post his own thoughts.

We were discussing the force on force scenario for probably about a week after it happened and it definitely gave me a lot to think about. I liked the discussion that happened afterwards. It was interesting to hear what happened from multiple perspectives. It would be good if our own personal training knives were allowed once they were checked. I bothered to get a trainer for the 2 knives I commonly carry specifically for classes and practicing with friends, so leaving that behind for a foam generic 'knife' made it less useful, same for holster I actually use as opposed to shoving a pistol in my pocket. Cellphone.... yeah... I would also recommend prop OC. I'm sure many of us carry it and I'm not hessitant to use it even in NYC and peoples republic of nj.
The scenario itself was very believable and I think it went a long way to show that scenarios escalate faster then expected and that you can't necessarily be sure who is or isn't involved until it's too late. The character actors did a very good job.

One thing that we noticed is the guy that asked for $ could not have signaled to the others because he was behind 2 walls which means that they were probably going to ambush the next person that went in/anyone and thus either would have been arrested or shot rather quickly. I guess it would be the hypothetical wrong place, wrong time situation.

I was very impressed with the shoot house. The scenario involved armed intruders and a wife being trapped in the house yelling for help. I thought it was a much more realistic scenario then the one mercop described when he was there (realistic as in I would care enough to help as opposed to not care, not as in it can't happen). I was one of I think you said it was 4 people that shot their wife? Maybe it's possible to mark the target more clearly because I would hope that I would be able to identify my wife more readilly then an IDPA don't shoot target. When I moved through the house I observed what I thought was someone with heir hands up and a weapon, and promptly shot the target. During the walkthrough with the range masters afterwards I realized it was actually a hostage taker and a hostage setup.

We will definately be coming out to more events in the coming months. I recommend that everyone that can make it, come out. You are getting a days worth of good training for the price of a lunch in the city.