Thearmededucator

I have 2, one light bearing and one standard. My wife also has one of her own. It is definitely the best deep concealment rig I have ever tested. It’s not my primary carry method, only because I normally wear pants with a belt, which makes the Enigma redundant. As for capability, last summer I carried in a posted spray park with the family. I was able to carry my M&P Shield Plus, a spare mag, a clinch pic, and pepper spray while there; all without wearing a shirt… Cant argue with results like that

While I understand the sentiment, I highly recommend getting the enhanced permit. For me the increased reciprocity and wider range of legal carrying locations are secondary. The biggest benefit in my view is the coverage of the legal realities and use of force requirements. As an instructor I have noticed that the overwhelming majority of people have, at best, an extremely optimistic view of how the system works in self defense cases. Knowing how to articulate your actions in the proper context can be the difference between freedom and a long jail term.

Last night, during dryfire practice, I hit my 1,000th “shot” with the Mantis X training program, so I figured it would be a good time to do a review. While I had long heard of the Mantis system, and was interested in the concept, the price still seemed a bit high to experiment with it. However, several weeks ago I joined their email list on a whim and the promise of “a chance to win $250 off your next order!” A few moments later I received an email stating that I indeed had won the drawing. After looking at their website, I chose the X10 variant, as it claims to be the most versatile and at a cost of $249.99 was within my price range. Shipping was free as well, so I got the whole thing at no cost to me! Unfortunately I spent most of the next two weeks out of town, so my real time on the system has been over the last 2-3 weeks. In that time I’ve done about 850 “shots'' of Dry Fire and 150 of live fire. The vast majority of those reps were with my EDC Gen 5 Glock 19, but there were also a few rounds with my 34 as well. The X10 model that I have is also supposedly designed to be used with rifles, shotguns, and bows as well, but I have yet to try those features, so that review will have to wait. The device itself is pretty cool. Compact and lightweight, it attaches to the rail on the pistol and apparently uses some gyroscope technology to track the orientation of the weapon. This allows for some pretty cool things. The system is precise enough to tell the difference between movements pre and post trigger break. In its most basic set up, shots are scored on a percentage system where the movement of the front sight post ignition is compared to its position prior to the trigger press. It then collects and stores it in a couple of different formats, with the base being the equivalent of the oft-chagrined diagnostic target, complete with the same “helpful” suggestions on your shooting errors. While the advice offered is the traditional “meh” quality, the empirical measurements are beneficial as they definitely keep you honest in tracking the front site. In this format, I can really see the usefulness for teaching true novices how to dry fire effectively. Outside the basic analysis settings, there are over a dozen other useful drills to experiment with, such as strong hand or weak hand only, reload iterations, and a unique daily challenge of some sort; all of which can be done either dry or live fire. Of these, I have found the most interesting to be the Holster Draw Analysis. Rather than tracking the front sight, the device acts as a shot timer and tracks the draw, breaking it down into its various segments of Time to Grip, Pull, Time with the gun Horizontal, Time to find the Target, and Time to Shot. I think this is a really cool feature, as it gives useful metrics to see where you can improve most on your draw. According to the stored records on the Mantis X, I have cut nearly .4 seconds off my draw to shot from concealment, and gotten my open carry draw (Pictured) to around one second. However this functionality is not without issues though, as fast draws sometimes wont register some of the metrics. Similar to this is one of the most difficult of the challenges the program has, which is the Hostage Rescue drill, which combines the two functionalities. In it, you have 5 repetitions with a par time and score threshold to reach, and both must be met in order to save the hostage. Ive been using a post it note on the living room wall at 7 yards and its pretty difficult. I haven't even tried the advanced setting on it yet. This drill is good for me, as it forces me to “take my time in a hurry.” I can get the par time easily, and I can get the trigger press I need, but doing the two in conjunction needs work. In order to complete this challenge I had to remind myself that I had time to spare to get it under par, so slow down and get the hit I needed. My livefire time with the Mantis X has been more limited, around 150 rounds or so. To be honest, I don't see quite as much functionality in the basic modes here, as the bullet strike reveals the same problems as the screen, although identifying the flier out of a string could be quite useful. During live fire, I first tried out the shot timer feature, hoping it could drop by Bill Drill time to 2.25 from concealment. Unfortunately, I had some issues doing this, as the software did not pick up all the shots in the string each time I attempted it. I quickly then moved on to the Holster Draw Analysis again and didnt have a problem. My guess is that during really quick shots it can't pick up the firing pin strike through the continuing recoil and subsequent driving of the gun. I need to do another attempt with it on the range, and I'll update you if my results are different. Lastly, there are some interesting additional features that encourage repeated use. The Groups function is pretty cool, as you can create or join a group and follow each other’s training records in things like number of shots or average score. I made a Tactical Indifference group if anyone wants to join, right now its just me and Pliskin though. Or if you don't want to go that route, the app also has Courses with various challenges to complete. If you are a video game guy, it reminds me an awful lot of the achievement function on my xbox. So far I have completed the 2 “Combat” courses, and am apparently supposed to get some velcro patches in the mail for doing so, but they haven't come in yet. In all, I would say the Mantis X is worth the money, if you actually are going to use it. As I have reached 1000 rounds, I essentially would have paid it off by now (had I actually paid for it out of pocket) in comparative ammo costs. I also have been more diligent and consistent with my dryfire since getting it, so that is a big plus as well. In all I'd say it's a good practice aid and potentially a great teaching tool in a private lesson type format. I think it also should make a very good gift to someone just starting along the path. I give it 4 out of 5 stars