Customer Reviews

Defensive Living: Attitudes, Tactics & Proper Handgun Use to Secure Your Personal Well-Being

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most books on self protection, especially those relating to armed confrontations, tend to focus on hardware, the equipment and the techniques.This book is different. Ed Lovette and Dave Spaulding give a concise and practical guide to the software aspect of violent confrontations. Mental preparation, situational awareness and winning attitude are presented in a way that allows the reader to apply these aspects. The physical skills and equipment considerations are discussed, but the main theme of DEFENSIVE LIVING is the adoption of a "tactical lifestyle" which allows anticipation of an encounter. Throughout the book the voice of experience is heard. The material presented is not theory it is the result of hard-won, hands-on experience. To sum up, we need this kind of information, we need to understand it, to apply it, to live it. It's never been better presented than in DEFENSIVE LIVING. Essential reading matter for times like this.

The book covers most of the important issues, however, it does not give adequate detail on any of them. If you want a broad overview of those things you should consider, this is a good place to start. If you are looking for specifics, you will have to follow-up this book with several others that contain more details.

The focus is on awareness and avoidance. Discussion of firearms only makes up a small portion of this book. For those interested in pursuing self defense firearms, Dave Spaulding's Handgun Combatives would be a good follow-up book to read.

A high point is the short discussion on night shooting. This is the first book I have seen that gives clear pictues of all the generally accepted methods of holding a flashlight and a handgun at the same time.

Worth reading if you are starting to think about what you can do to enhance your personal security.

I was fortunate enough to see an advance copy of this book. It's the finest distillation of over sixty combined years of experience on the hardest streets and darkest back alleys in the US and abroad. Ed Lovette and Dave Spaulding bring the knowledge they earned in Special Forces, the CIA, and elite police units to the average reader in a clear and simple format that is immediately usable. Buy one for yourself and buy another for everyone you care for.

Ed Lovette and Dave Spaulding believe that if a person makes the desicion to carry a handgun, he has a greater responsibility toward himself - and above else to his loved ones to confront the dangers found in the modern society. They have combined their vast law enforcement and military experience to create a handbook to help in such an effort. But, as the majority of this book is about non-gun issues (mental conditoining, awareness, operating a vehicle in an emergency, medical self-help and so on), also those people who don't carry a gun will benefit form reading this book.

Usually, books like this concentrate on guns and tactics - essentially surviving an armed encounter. This book, however, places emphasis on avoiding such situations altogether. That is such an common-sense approach to the subject, one has to wonder why other gun writers concentrate on surviving the attack, and not avoiding it in the first place.

The book covers just about all the important issues of the subject, and there doesn't seem to be anything essential missing. However, this is such a broad subject that a hundred pages is way too little to cover it in adequate detail. Therefore, this book serves mainly as an introduction to the subject - although a very good one.

unfortunately, this kind of book has became a necessity in our society. for those responsible and realistic enough to be concerned with their safety and the safety of their loved ones, this is the perfect publication. straight, uncomplicated, and truthful, this book takes you from the bliss of ignorance to survivor without having to invest years of training and personal sacrifice, like the authors obviously did. i thank them both for facilitating for me the knowledge that will allow me to perform my duty as my family's provider and protector.

Like many other subjects you can not become an expert simply by reading a book.......however some books will get you started in the right direction. This book is exactly that, the perfect beginning to learning to live defensively. The book should be required reading for everyone at a high school level. The book should be of special interest to martial artists, cops, cops spouses, and all other self defense students.

Ed Lovette captures the essence of self protection. He is clear, concise and obviously knows his subject. The problem is basically space. There is not enough of it. The topics discussed could be expanded quite a bit, especially the aspects of handgun use, carry and choice. More information could be included regarding the psychology of self defence; and, the problems associated with fear, adrenaline and actual application of learned defensive skills in extreme situations. Holding a weapon while paralyzed with fear is a real situational problem. It requires a good deal of learning, practice and conditioning before a working, self defence action can be initiated.

All in all, an excellent book. It just needs to be fleshed out a bit.

This is the type of book that can appear to be deceptively simple and short. But the content covers a broad range of ideas and sophisticated experiences. Essentially, the authors worked hard to boil down concepts to ideas that can be utilized or practiced, and most of all remembered, in an emergency (when motor skills and thinking skills are grossly impaired.) It's not written for unadvanced minds, it's written for dangerous situations, when the mind becomes rodent-like and the body neanderthal. In other words it's the crucial facts. I imagine the authors could have volumes to say if they so wanted. If they did, I'd read those too.

This is a solid book for what it is and what it covers. However, as was mentioned in another review there needs to be more. The chapters could include more details, exercises & drills, etc. As we know, just reading about a subject doesn't improve knowledge and skills, only the application of the material can lead to improvements. I think the authors could have provided more ways for direct applications. However, it's a book that I would recommend to anyone interested in personal safety with or without the use of firearms.

This book is a very basic short guide to defensive living. It's basically about increasing your awareness of your surroundings. It does not go into detail about tactics for defense. It is a very General guide.