Valor Ridge Pistol Immersion

[rn29306]

Anybody headed to Harrogate, TN this weekend for Pistol Immersion?

[Jamie Jackson]

I'll be working, of course...but anxiously anticipating your AAR!

 

Enjoy!

[shotgunshooter]

Wish I was. You'll like the class a lot. Can't wait to see your AAR either.

[Sidecarist]

Me three on wishing I was going to be there. I've looked at Reid classes and I would be willing to go. I'm going to have to wait a bit bug I plan on going.

I look forward to hearing about it.

[rn29306]

I've been looking forward to this for a while. He seems to be doing very well for himself. His class are selling out rapidly for this year. Not the best AAR author but I will give it my honest opinion.

[Jon Abrams]

Technically not an AAR but here's my two cents on the class / staff:

1. Valor Ridge Pistol Immersion (Pistol Craft I and II combined)
2. This class is conducted by Valor Ridge.
3. Lead instructor: Reid Henrichs.
4. Cost of this course was $950.00 (April 2016)
5. I am in no way affiliated with the organization of Valor Ridge nor did I know Reid Henrichs before taking this course. I was simply a student that had a positive experience and wanted to share. Finally, I am not receiving any form of payment for posting my experience.


Do you carry a handgun daily to protect yourself, family, and friends? If the answer to that question is "yes", then the training and information offered in Valor Ridge's Pistolcraft I and Pistolcraft II should not be an option but rather mandatory.

I completed Pistol Immersion (4 day course that combines Pistolcraft I & II) 4/2/16 - 4/5/16 and all of my expectations for this course were exceeded. Reid Henrichs, James Owens, and Patriot Nurse are hands downs some of the most knowledgeable, professional, and respectful people I've had the pleasure of meeting. They all have the heart of a teacher and want all of their students to succeed and stay alive. Trust them and pay attention to every lesson that they teach.

The property and range are beyond amazing. Everything is very clean...the range is not littered with brass casings, and the view of the Cumberland Mountains / Gap looks like a postcard. It's truly the perfect landscape for developing a martial attitude, marksmanship, and purpose of action.

Next, there is no reason whatsoever to feel intimidated or scared to train at Valor Ridge. Outside of my conceal carry course (basic NRA pistol) I had no prior training experience. The age range in my class was around 27 - 64, two women were present who were beyond capable of completing the course, and the experience level ranged from beginner to students that had multiple courses under their belts. Everyone in the class had a great attitude and came to learn.

Finally, I can say that I feel much more confident in my abilities to protect myself and others if attacked. Reid's curriculum will present you with some of the most austere conditions one could imagine. However, it's better to experience these conditions and gain familiarity in training vs experiencing them for the first time while being attacked.

I will definitely come back to Valor Ridge for more training. In the interim, I look forward to implementing what I learned into my daily practice.
"Excellence is the result of consistency and dedication." - Reid Henrichs Edited April 12, 2016 by Jon Abrams

[rn29306]

In reading TGO David's post from 06 Apr 2012:

 

1. Valor Ridge Pistol Immersion (Pistol Craft I and II combined)

2. This class is conducted by Valor Ridge.

3. Lead instructor is Reid Henrichs.

4. Cost of this course was $950.00.

5. I am in no way affiliated with the organization of Valor Ridge nor did I know Reid Henrichs in any shape or form before taking this class. I am receiving no payment of any form by completing this AAR.  I am simply a firearms enthusiast and enjoy training and wanted to share this new firearms school with the members of TGO. I was a TGO Benefactor before Valor Ridge became public.

 

 

 

Last week I attended Valor Ridge Pistol Immerson class which is Pistol Craft I and II in a 4 day spread. The wife was wanting to tag along but I talked her out of it and made it a man trip. Chattanooga to Middlesboro, KY didn't take too long. I stayed at the Middlesboro Holiday Inn Express.

 

Some thoughts on this place to stay: 90% of our class stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. It is in the very middle of town across from Wal Mart. There is a bit of traffic noise but not too bad. The free breakfast was nice to have. I loaded up on their oatmeal every day. Hot coffee to go was nice as well. Their parking lot security seemed better than average with multiple cameras in the lot. That said, they didn't bat an eye when I unloaded my truck everyday coming through the lobby. There is a Cracker Barrel nearby if you are a huge breakfast eater. The travel time from the hotel to Valor Ridge was 25 minutes and this isn't a route you can exactly speed on and make up time. Head back through the tunnel and then make your way to Valor Ridge. They way I went took me from Kentucky, into a valley in Virginia, and then some fairly tight roads into Tennessee. Once you turn off the main divided highway in Virginia, you can forget speeding. Its a tight, narrow road with drop-offs. Put on some country music like Eric Church and enjoy the ride. My F150 navigation was WAY off. Verizon did pretty well. You will see a Valor Ridge sign on the road. Locals know you probably ain't from around there and will help you. They seem nice enough, even to the Yankees in the class that took a wrong turn.

 

The property is extremely nice. He certainly put some work in to the range and buildings. I have included some images after my ramblings for your viewing pleasure. Everything is new. The classroom has a lot of history in it as well. Reid put together a video that I will link and it shows some detail on the classroom.

 

When we got to Valor Ridge, Reid was there as well as an assistant instructor. Easy going handshaking and welcoming was going on. The classroom was set up and in everyone's place was a Pistol Craft I notebook, VR logo pen and water bottle. Nice touch. Introductions were made. The assistant instructor is a flight nurse in his other job and it was nice to have such a medical person on staff with his go bag of goodies. Reid is very humble and doesn't talk about himself much. He is very good on his delivery of the material in the book. You can tell he was a teacher prior to this endeavor. The fundamentals were covered and thoroughly explained and then it was range time for paper targets. The range for the pistol class is a 100 yard gravel flat surface with targets at both ends. There is a concrete pad at one end for the majority of this class. The days run together after a while. I can't tell you when we covered certain topics or when we shot and then went to lunch. Pistol Craft I essentially covers fundamentals, range time (proper draw and presentation of weapon from holster, marksmanship under stress, clearance of type 1, 2, and 3 malfunctions, loading and reloading, one handed manipulations, moving and shooting, various shooting positions, shooting from 3-50 yards, contact distance techniques, how to deal with multiple targets, crowd management, and additional classroom instruction on the attitude of the armed citizen and this is incorporated nicely with various history lessons regarding an armed population. This mindset classroom instruction is worth the cost of the class IMHO. Marksmanship, OODA loop, and pre-assault cues as it relates to criminal assault paradigms. were also covered. I cannot express to you how good of a teacher he is. I hope it comes through on his YouTube videos. Standard LE qualification and the FBI POC were passed during this course.

 

Pistol Craft II is where the real fun began. Most shooting on the range was either solo, in pairs, or in small groups while in front of the class. The classroom time covered deadly force analysis, medical and anatomical lectures, GSW and treatment. Range time took off right where Pistol Craft I ended. The situations Reid has created for Pistol Craft II will not be discussed by me. You just have to experience it for yourself with no pre-gaming. At no time were the 4 handgun rules violated during the 4 days of training. We had people in the class for whom this was their first time taking a tactical course and there were students who had previous training. The pace was appropriate so that everyone was challenged. We had a great group of individuals in our class. Everyone was a good dude except for the one female in the class and she hung right in there with all the guys.

 

It was nice to meet Reid's SO as well. She is a friendly and down to earth person just as he is. They seem to be a great couple and I wish them the best in their future they are building up on the Ridge. I hear she is a shooter as well with an AR, I just didn't get to see it.

 

I could keep typing about this class and what it was like. I have no complaints about this class in its delivery, classroom or range execution, or any aspect of this class in general. The video linked below describes the range much better than I can. The goats are a good thing. Ole Ted likes his ears and head scratched. I feel that Valor Ridge is going to keep growing as shown by 2016 is almost entirely sold out. I hear they have additional classes planned for release in 2017. If this were a publically traded company, I would have bought stock in it while I was up there. I can't wait to go back and take Rifle Immersion.

 

Ried's vido on what Valor Ridge looks like now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHTySD_bZUE

Edited April 12, 2016 by rn29306

[rn29306]

.

Edited April 11, 2016 by rn29306

[Jamie Jackson]

Thank you rn29306.

 

Well written AAR and I appreciate the vid link.

Wow! Very nice setup. You can tell a lot of thought and hard work went into the development of the facility. Good on Reid and PN.

 

Thank you for sharing this with us.

 

 

 

Also Thank you Jon Abrams. Good info.

[Jon Abrams]

Great AAR RN29306! Even a Yankee like me can appreciate : ) Edited April 11, 2016 by Jon Abrams

[rn29306]

Driving to Valor Ridge coming into Virginia after going through the tunnel from Middlesboro.

 

 

[url=http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rn29306/media/image.jpg1_zpslee0tinj.jpg.html][/URL]

Edited April 12, 2016 by rn29306

[rn29306]

One end of the 100 yard pistol range.

 

[URL=http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rn29306/media/image.jpg5_zpsvrahdczp.jpg.html][/URL]

[rn29306]

The other end of the pistol range.

 

[URL=http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rn29306/media/image.jpg7_zpsj4bytoes.jpg.html][/URL]

[rn29306]

Overhead coverage just to the right of the 2nd view of the range.

 

[URL=http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rn29306/media/image.jpg6_zpsedoebadl.jpg.html][/URL]

[rn29306]

Awesome view and good times around this firepit.

 

[URL=http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rn29306/media/image.jpg3_zpsbwomkkv8.jpg.html][/URL]

[TGO David]

I'm going to be completely honest here.  I love it when TGO members, especially those from Tennessee, go take a solid class from solid instructors and learn valuable skills in the process.  Lord knows there are more than enough "bad" instructors out there who have no business teaching, and are instilling bad habits and useless tactics into their students.

 

BUT.

 

I am honestly getting pretty tired of folks signing up on TGO just to give an AAR for a school that was invited to help sponsor TGO and thus far has not partnered with us in any way.  I can only surmise that the school realizes the benefit that comes with promoting oneself on social media outlets, especially one that dominates the Tennessee firearms landscape the way that TGO does.  But why then the "guerrilla advertising" instead of just supporting an outlet that could easily direct a healthy amount of business their way?

 

So the Staff and I are left with a dilemma.  We detest censorship but we also detest people co-opting the popularity and impact that TGO possesses rather than partnering with us in a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship.

 

To that end, I'm seriously about to start locking down these threads when they diverge from being an AAR by long-time members and become propaganda from folks who just signed up to tell us how awesome the class was.  We know it's awesome.  We'd love to see them support TGO.

 

Now, I know that the OP of this thread has been here since 2014 and isn't exactly new, despite the low post-count, but I'm also seeing new folks from other states consistently in these type of threads.  See my point?

[TripleDigitRide]

I'm going to be completely honest here. I love it when TGO members, especially those from Tennessee, go take a solid class from solid instructors and learn valuable skills in the process. Lord knows there are more than enough "bad" instructors out there who have no business teaching, and are instilling bad habits and useless tactics into their students.

BUT.

I am honestly getting pretty tired of folks signing up on TGO just to give an AAR for a school that was invited to help sponsor TGO and thus far has not partnered with us in any way. I can only surmise that the school realizes the benefit that comes with promoting oneself on social media outlets, especially one that dominates the Tennessee firearms landscape the way that TGO does. But why then the "guerrilla advertising" instead of just supporting an outlet that could easily direct a healthy amount of business their way?

So the Staff and I are left with a dilemma. We detest censorship but we also detest people co-opting the popularity and impact that TGO possesses rather than partnering with us in a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship.

To that end, I'm seriously about to start locking down these threads when they diverge from being an AAR by long-time members and become propaganda from folks who just signed up to tell us how awesome the class was. We know it's awesome. We'd love to see them support TGO.

Now, I know that the OP of this thread has been here since 2014 and isn't exactly new, despite the low post-count, but I'm also seeing new folks from other states consistently in these type of threads. See my point?

Yep. I noticed another one recently joined TGO and immediately began advertising. If one gets away with it, other's will feel they can do the same.

[TripleGGG]

I'm going to be completely honest here.  I love it when TGO members, especially those from Tennessee, go take a solid class from solid instructors and learn valuable skills in the process.  Lord knows there are more than enough "bad" instructors out there who have no business teaching, and are instilling bad habits and useless tactics into their students.

 

BUT.

 

I am honestly getting pretty tired of folks signing up on TGO just to give an AAR for a school that was invited to help sponsor TGO and thus far has not partnered with us in any way.  I can only surmise that the school realizes the benefit that comes with promoting oneself on social media outlets, especially one that dominates the Tennessee firearms landscape the way that TGO does.  But why then the "guerrilla advertising" instead of just supporting an outlet that could easily direct a healthy amount of business their way?

 

So the Staff and I are left with a dilemma.  We detest censorship but we also detest people co-opting the popularity and impact that TGO possesses rather than partnering with us in a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship.

 

To that end, I'm seriously about to start locking down these threads when they diverge from being an AAR by long-time members and become propaganda from folks who just signed up to tell us how awesome the class was.  We know it's awesome.  We'd love to see them support TGO.

 

Now, I know that the OP of this thread has been here since 2014 and isn't exactly new, despite the low post-count, but I'm also seeing new folks from other states consistently in these type of threads.  See my point?

I agree.  It is one thing from a long-time member vs someone literally just wanting to advertise.  I see nothing wrong with locking down a thread and actually deleting the offending post.  I do not think that is censorship, I think that is protecting the forum by not allowing abuse. 

[Jamie Jackson]

You make some good points David.

 

I appreciate reading AAR's from members here, as it helps me to allocate my limited "training" funds. I don't believe your post was directed totally at rn29306 nor my encouragement of his AAR. I have attended a class with the OP before, so I felt his AAR would be beneficial to our community. Hence my encouragement.

 

Your point is very valid though, as I too have seen quite a few folks (as TDR mentioned), out of state even, posting in relatively unveiled advertisement mode...

 

I would have thought Valor Ridge would have taken advantage of joining our community as a vendor...perplexing to say the least, because, as you mentioned, TGO definitely is an influential force in the TN firearms community at large.

 

Thanks for the hard work you and all of the mods do in keeping TGO the quality site it is.

[rn29306]

In response to Davids post, I did edit my AAR to reflect the header that he requested.

Before the class, I posted a question asking if anyone was going to the course. The next three posts all stated the same thing and that was "I am looking foward to your AAR". This course had never an AAR as it was a combination of two classes. To my knowledge, only the first portion of the class had a review. The course generated quite a bit of interest at the place of my employment and I wanted to share my thoughts with everyone. Ive never written an AAR before on here and yes my post count is small compared to some of you. I was a Benefactor here before Valor Ridge ever went public. My AAR was in response to posters wanting it. I understand you have a Vendor program but Vendor arrangments with TGO are beyond my influence. I see your overall position but this is how I got to this point.

[Jon Abrams]

As the new out of state guy here....I do apologize for any problems that my post may have created. My intent was to share a positive experience I had with a trainer in TN and nothing more. I'll be more cognizant of how I post here in the future. Finally, I edited my original post to be in accordance with the board rules regarding training class reviews. Edited April 12, 2016 by Jon Abrams