A new chapter and another random aside · 5:19am Apr 23rd, 2012
A new chapter in The First Light of Dawn just went up! There will be one additional chapter after this, followed by an epilogue.
I'm extremely pumped about my next story idea. I'm going back to my comedy roots, which seems to be the most popular genre I write. I still think "The Glass Blower" is the best of my stories, but for some reason no one wants to read a tragic fairy tale. They want to read comedies. Well, who am I to argue?
Now, your random aside for this post: holsters.
When I was a kid I thought it would be awesome to carry a gun around constantly. I mean, it's a gun! How badass is that? Well, it turns out that actually carrying a gun, especially a fairly large one like the Beretta M-9 service pistol, gets old after a while.
Servicemembers have three basic ways to carry a gun: thigh holsters, hip holsters, and shoulder holsters.
Hip holsters are the oldest and most traditional. They're what cowboys used in Westerns. They have the advantage of being quick and convenient, but are difficult to wear with body armor (the armor tends to ride on top of your belt), and wearing a nine-pound piece of metal around your belt can get uncomfortable after a while. That said, on previous combat deployments I would often use a hip holster when going outside the wire.
Thigh holsters are the badasses of the holster world. They're what the FBI and SWAT team use in the movies and TV shows, and therefore are awesome. They're very quick, since your hand naturally rests right about thigh level, and they don't interfere with your body armor at all. Unfortunately, they're very annoying to wear for long periods. They typically occlude hip and cargo pockets on that side of your body, and they are incredibly uncomfortable to run in. I mean it. Running with a thigh holster is an exercise in frustration. By the time you finish running, the gun is likely to be on the inside of your leg, rather than the outside. On missions, I would only wear a thigh holster if I was going into an event like a shura without my rifle, and I thought the pistol would be important.
So, shoulder holsters! They're convenient and don't get in the way of pockets. Unfortunately, they're almost impossible to wear with body armor. It just doesn't work. Also, they're incredibly slow -- there is no such thing as a 'fast draw' shoulder holster. Shoulder holsters pretty much only exist to haul the gun around with you, on the off chance you decide to spend 2 or 3 seconds getting it out. I almost always wear a shoulder holster when staying on base. It's just so much easier than the other types.
So, there you go! A tiny insight into a tiny bit of military gear.
More ponies next week!
Adventure Comedy is the most popular tag-set by rating on EqD. It is also the genre that Faust intended for the show in the first place. But yay! I've been neglecting too many fics for the past three months and will have to catch up on my backlog.
After your tour is done youre going to sell your memoir for a million bucks. Also what branch of the service are you in?
Ooh. I've fallen behind on your story, Gardez. I'll have to read up when I can.
How difficult would it be for someone else to take your gun out of a hip holster?
I can only speak for myself but I didn't read The Glass Blower because I don't like inverted versions of good characters for the sake of setting. If there is a plot purpose for it I can accept it more easily. And also because based on comments on the EQD post you did not really see your characterization as that much of an inversion.
Personally I loved The Glass Blower! Not your usual setting or mood but it was a neat little story.
Anyway, I'm always up for some comedy too...
I'd love to see the sequel to Wind Thief, but comedies are always good too.
I have to admit, The Glass Blower is your best piece, but really, that bar is unbelievably high and Naked Singularity is probably one of the best comedies this fandom has produced. So hey! I can't complain at all!
You'll write and I'll read!
I was going to agree with you that The Glass Blower is your best work, but then I remembered that you also wrote The Contest, which is THE fanfic that I recommend for people who want to get into MLP:FIM fanfics. Why do you have to write so many good fics?!!?
Holsters! How do they work?
Also (and more importantly), glad you're still with us. Stay safe!
Real pros carry their guns inside their hammerspace shirt.
I know what you mean by running in a thigh holster. I made 2 out of nylon webbing for carrying a couple of nerf guns in my campuses humans vs. zombies game. You can run, you just have to bounce from foot to foot, keeping your feet about 2 feet wider than shoulder width. If you know how brutes in Halo charge with the hammer you know what I mean. At least I could still stay ahead of the fat kid, and at least the problems weren't just because I made them.
I figured the best way to fix it would be to have the lower strap be elastic so that it shifts in size with my leg as I flex to move, if you have a spare to play with you may want to try that.
Thy should make chest bolsters....
82406 Rarity fanboy, I see.
83182
Mane 6, CMC, and Princesses fan, actually.
83190 Actually, I thought you'd reply, "Takes one to know one."
83193
Considering your avatar
, and Rarity's awesomeness in DB
, that would be far too easy
.
82710 CiG is risking his life in foreign country and you're comparing it to your freaking NERF zombies game?
......
Well trolled, sir. Well trolled.
God, at least nobody has asked about your KDR...
83201
My KDR is terrible.....
And I wasn't meaning to troll, I'm serious about how adding an elastic to the straps on those damn things would make them more comfortable, every version I've seen uses nylon webbing. The problem with the webbing is that as you run your muscles in you leg flex and unflex, and the size changes constantly throughout your pace, and the webbing doesn't shift in size with you, so when you move your legs forward (also the time when all of the weight of the gun or nerf toy is building momentum) the straps are free to shift. I can understand exactly what he means by the gun going straight between your legs, because that's where those stupid toys went too.
I didn't mean any disrespect, I was just surprised that the default for thigh holsters wasn't an elastic strap like I had been planning on modifying mine too. It honestly seems stupid that the military wouldn't have dealt with such an easy problem, so I'm now wondering what I missed.
If it makes you feel any better, I really liked The Glass Blower. Personally, I think your adventure stories are slightly better than your comedies, but eh.
RANDOM IS COPYRIGHTED BY ME! HOW DARE YOU!
Then again, I'll let Cold In Gardez do it, since he's awesome.
But copyright it.
I have to admit, I only found out about you from your comedies. I tend to avoid crossovers and stories marked as dark. I really regretted not reading your more serious stories sooner.
I don't find Skyrim half as interesting as The Wind Thief. I avoided The Glass Blower because stories tend to replay in my head for a few days and I didn't want to end up bumming myself out. I wouldn't be surprised if it got published, if it were altered so that it wasn't fanfiction anyway.