Sleep Is For The Weak

It’s time to write a little bit about the handgun I carry for personal defense, the Heckler and Koch P30.  This is a 9mm handgun, with magazines that hold 15 rounds.  It is a DA/SA gun with a decocker, and no manual safety.  Prior to the P30 I owned a Heckler and Koch USP Tactical in .45acp.  This gun was also DA/SA with both a safety and a decocker.  Unfortunately the USP Tactical is just too large to carry concealed, daily.

The P30 is a good size for concealed carry.  It is not so large as to be difficult to conceal or uncomfortable in a good holster.  It is also not so small as to be difficult to control while shooting.  The grip on the handgun fits my hand perfectly, however Heckler and Koch went a step further and made the back strap, right panel, and left panel all independently adjustable with three sizes for each piece.

I look at the P30 as an evolution that started with the USP Compact.  Then came the P2000, and finally the P30 which shares a lot more with the P2000 than it’s USP heritage.  The trigger feels unchanged from the USP which is to say it’s not a great trigger, but there are far worse out there.  The gun is typical H&K Reliable.  I’m sure you could drop it in the white river, fish it out two years later, load a fresh magazine and have it go bang.

I’ve trained with the P30 in three Defensive Handgun Courses now.  It is far more accurate than I.  It has never failed to go bang when there was a live round chambered and the trigger has been pressed.  It’s recoil isn’t any worse than any other 9mm handgun I’ve fired.  All in all it meets all the criteria of a good fighting pistol.

In the search for a holster to conceal my H&K P30 I have tried a number of different products.  I had a Hold Fast from Peter’s Custom Holsters, as well as a Hold Out.  The Hold Fast is an all  Kydex Inside the waistband holster with Leather tabs that wrap around your belt to hold it in place.  The Hold Out is an all Kydex On the belt holster.  Both held the pistol firmly in place but were not comfortable for me to wear all day long.  So back to the interwebs to search for something else.

I had read a number of positive reviews of the Comp-Tac MTAC while browsing the Defensive Carry forums.  I decided I’d give one a shot.  The MTAC is a Hybrid Leather & Kydex Holster.  The majority of the holster is leather.  The side of the holster that is away from the body, towards the pants/belt is made of Kydex.  This works out well because the Kydex doesn’t collapse like many all leather IWB holsters do when the pistol is removed, yet you don’t have hard plastic jabbing you in the soft fleshy bits like you would with an all Kydex IWB holster.  The Kydex section of the MTAC can be replaced with bodies for other pistols.  Which allows a single $80 purchase to be extended for use with other handguns down the road at $30 per additional body.  Should I want to carry a Glock 19, all I need to do is purchase the G19 body for my current MTAC, remove/replace four screws and I’m back in business.

I ordered my MTAC with a Kydex Body for the P30 and C-Clips.  These clips hook over the waistband of your pants behind the belt, and then have small hooks that grab the top and bottom edge of the belt.  The Holster has two screws that can be used to adjust the retention on the pistol.  I found them to be just about right from the factory and haven’t made many changes.  You can adjust the possitioning of the hooks on the holster to allow the gun to ride higher or lower on your waist.  I left mine in the middle as it’s a good level for me to get a firm firing grip, a smooth draw, and decient concealment.

I’ve found the Comp-Tac MTAC holster to be so comfortable that most days I forget I’m carrying a gun.  It doesn’t jab me in the side or leg while I’m walking, standing, or sitting down.  During the one day fighting pistol class put on by the Indiana Gun Owners board the MTAC served it’s purpose flawlessly.  Drawing from the holster was exactly what you expect, and re holstering didn’t require a lot of thought.

All in all Comp-Tac knocked one out of the park in my opinion.

Prior to 2007 ham radio operators who wanted to upgrade from their Technician Class License, to a General, or Extra Class License need to take a five word per minute test in Morse Code (also known as CW).  That requirement has been lifted and now all license classes are available, requiring only a multiple choice test for each.

Just because learning Morse Code is no longer a requirment does not mean it’s a waste of time.  CW is a very narrow mode allowing many hams to occupy the space a single voice communication would have taken.  So now the question is “How do I learn Morse Code?”

Enter Fabian Kurz (DJ1YFK) and his new website http://lcwo.net.  I’ve recently signed up, and while the site is still in BETA form, I have no doubt it will be a very useful tool for learning Morse Code.  The method used to teach CW is called the Koch Method.  Popular computer software for learning CW such as G4FON also use the Koch Method.

I’m looking forward to using Fabian’s website to learn CW.  Perhaps sometime soon you’ll hear on the airwaves.   -.-. –.-  -.-. –.-  -.-. –.-  .– —-. –.. . -…