By Rob Shaul

I’ve been cleaning out the MTI Storage Area and have some items for sale. Price includes shipping via the US Postal Service. Payment will be via PayPal.

Unless specifically noted, all these items are used, and all sales are final.

If interested,  have any questions, or you want to purchase, please email rob@mtntactical.com.

Sorry, no international orders (shipping is killer!).

BACKPACKS

Used Eberlestock Gunrunner Pack  – $110.00

Great day hunting pack for rifle hunters – and also a great pack for long distance AR run and gun events. The pack has an integrated scabbard.

Used Eberlestock Legacy F52 on ALICE Frame – $150

We purchased this pack to look at its design a couple years ago when I had a mechanical engineer on staff and we were considering building a training ruck. It’s been used once to pack 40 pounds of water up a steep hill as part of a study. No longer built by Eberlestock.

Used LLBean Hunter Carryall Pack – $85

Barely used. Bought it to study the design.

Used Deuter Guide 45+ Pack – $65

Simple, professional mountaineering and backcountry ski pack.

This is an older version. Here‘ is a link to the latest model.

New Badlands OX Frame Pack – $150

Badlands doesn’t make these anymore – and they make a great day hunting pack, and also a carryout pack for big game. Never used – again, we purchased to study the design. Video Review HERE.

Used Eberlestock Gunslinger Pack – $150

Great daypack I used for rifle hunting. Integrated scabbard. Note – the pack originally came with a separate pice to cover the butt of a rifle – I lost it … .

Used Mystery Ranch Selway Hunting Backpack – $395

Brand new from Mystery Ranch for 2018, this pack took part in a hunting pack comparison test/study we completed the summer of 2018. Save $100 over new!

SOLD! 

Used Kuiu Icon Pro 3200 – $380

This pack took part in a hunting pack comparison test/study we completed the summer of 2018. Save $100 over new!

New and Used Ice Climbing Gear:

New Ice Screws – Sold as a set, – $500.00
6x – 16cm Black Diamond Express
2x – 19cm Black Diamond Express
2x – 22cm Black Diamond Express
1x – 12cm Grivel

Ice Tools:
Used Petzl Nomic – $400/Pair

Ice Tools:
Used Black Diamond Viper – $250/Pair

Crampons:
Used Black Diamond – $150/Pair

Used Seiko SBDC053 (blue) – $515

BOTH WATCHES HAVE SOLD!

Tent/Shelter

Used Nemo Equipment Spike Storm 1P Shelter – $105

I purchased this shelter this year to try something different from my trusty Bivy Sack. After trying it on a scouting trip, decided to stick with my bivy.

Military

Venezuela’s Refugee Exodus is the Biggest Crisis in the Hemisphere, Small Wars Journal
Germany’s Navy Is a Total Embarrassment, The National Interest
China Rises, America Falters, and Geoeconomics Rears Its Head, War on the Rocks
Military Boot Maker Sentenced for Selling Chinese Boots as USA-Made, Tactical Life
Is the U.S. Prepping to Airstrike Iran?, The National Interest
F-35: A Mistake or Super Weapon?, The National Interest
Outsourcing the Afghan War, Real Clear Defense
A Test for Privatization in Afghanistan, Small Wars Journal
How Macedonia Could Push NATO into a War, The National Interest
How to Make Japan’s Military Great Again, The National Interest

First Responder / Homeland Security / Wildland Fire

Do American Cops Take a Beating in the Press?, LE Today
2 NV FIREFIGHTERS BURNED AT WILDLAND FIRE – HELICOPTER ALSO CRASHES, Firefighter Close Calls
Pennsylvania Town Considers Dissolving Police Force, Officer.com
Flight attendant mistakes air marshal for passenger with gun, Police One
Are American cops really all that ‘militarized’?, Police One
Open Letter to the NFL, LE Today
Burning Man organizers want end to stops of festival-goers, Police One
Retired police officer describes how he survived fire tornado at Carr Fire, Wildfire Today
K9 handler accepts punishment after police service dog dies from heat, LE Today

Mountain

When Bad Things Happen in the Wilderness, Outside
Check Out “My Epic: The Podcast”, Outdoor Research
Cross-Country Mountain Bikes Are Getting Way Better, Outside
Should Bowhunter Education Be Required?, Bowhunter.com
Everything You Need to Know About Hunting with Horses, Outdoor Life
Video: Dani Arnold Free Solos 1,200-Meter Grandes Jorasses in 2:04, Climbing Magazine
The Best New Adventure Books for Fall, Outside
Chris Sharma: A Lifetime of Climbing, Climbing Magazine
The passing of two legends: Tom Frost and Jeff Lowe, Alpinist
New Survey Finds Nearly One-Third of Respondents Have Experienced Sexual Harassment or Assault While Climbing, REI Co-Op Journal
Safe Outside: The Facts About Sexual Harassment and Assault in the Climbing Community, Climbing Magazine
MSR PocketRocket 2 Mini Stove Kit Review, Backpacking Light

Fitness / Nutrition

Found: A destructive mechanism that blocks the brain from knowing when to stop eating, Science Daily
Juice Cleanses Aren’t Healthy After All, Outside
Dry-Land Resistance Training Practices of Elite Swimming Strength and Conditioning Coaches, Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research
Diets, Belly Fat, and the Nutrition Nabobs, Breaking Muscle
Physical Fitness Predictors of a Warrior Task Simulation Test, Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research
How Heat Therapy Could Boost Your Performance, Outside
Maybe Your Sleep Problem Isn’t a Problem, NY Times
Bacon Pancakes, Mark’s Daily Apple
How sleep loss may contribute to adverse weight gain, Science Daily
How Running Kept Me Overweight, Breaking Muscle

Interesting

Brutal Reality of Swimming Around Scotland. | Ross Edgley’s Great British Swim: E13, RedBull TV
Alcohol Helps Kill 2.8 Million People Globally Each Year, WebMD
Thousands of Amazon workers receive food stamps. Now Bernie Sanders wants Amazon to pay up., Washington Post
Blockchain: Why U.S Technological and Financial Dominance is at Stake, the National Interest
Dartmouth misconduct case highlights the mistreatment of junior scientists, Science Daily
Ten Years at Burning Man, In Photographs, Wired Magazine
Stop Sending Money on Venmo. There Are Better Alternatives, Wired
Researchers replicate just 13 of 21 social science experiments published in top journals, Washington Post

By Rob Shaul

I’m a voracious reader of non-fiction and try to read or listen to 1-2 books/week.

I consider this type of reading, “Expansion Literature” – designed to introduce me to ideas and thoughts outside of my specific career area.

Most books leave no impression. Below are 20 I’ve read over the past 6-8 months that did, and I can recommend strongly.

Read any impactful books lately? Email me the title and why, and I’ll share it with the rest of the MTI community.

1. Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind Americas Fifty-Year Fall – and Those Fighting to Reverse It, by Steven Brill.

Steven Brill offers up an interesting explanation for America’s growing inequality: Meritocracy. High achievers make it, set up systems and coach/guide their children to the best schools, best jobs, and eventually using government regulations, money-based political lobbying, and other mechanisms to create “moats” protecting their wealth and elitism. Examples include financial mechanisms and corporate legal defenses which concentrate wealth. He argues that unlike the “blue bloods” of the past elite, these new meritocratic elite don’t have any sense of duty or obligation to the society as a whole. Thought-provoking in that it causes you to question the focus on personal achievement without a sense of duty to a greater good. 

2. What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength, by Scott Carney

Interesting deep dive into the possible physiological benefits and potential fitness performance improvements built through cold exposure and breath-holding techniques. Some of this stuff is faddy now and practiced by celebrity coaches working with actors in Hollywood or made-for youtube “extreme” training experiments conducted by RedBull. We’ve messed around with water confidence training for mountain athletes ourselves, but questioned the transferability outside the specific mode. In general, I’m very suspicious of any life or performance “hack” – as they aren’t sustainable, but did find this book and some of the training modes interesting.

3. Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society, by Eric Posner and Glen Weyl

Super interesting and thought-provoking ideas which target many of the inefficiencies and inertia of business and government and society offer unique, market-based ideas on how to address them. For example, when it comes to voting and elections, what if you could “save” your votes … i.e. chose not to vote when issues or candidates didn’t interest you, but have those non-votes “stockpile” – then use them all at once when an issue or candidate arrived which you felt passionate about? Interesting, huh?

4. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

Havari’s book “Sapiens” was super informative and impressive. One of its key takeaways was that there were several different species of hominoids when our species “homo sapiens” arrived on the scene. We killed ’em all! With this book, Harari ponders the next species of hominoids which will lead to our extinction …. driven by genetic modification and artificial intelligence.

5. Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought by Andrew W. Lo

The traditional idea of efficient markets mirrors the principles of physics – money moves around like thermodynamics – with “hot” and “cold” influences. Lo challenges this idea and offers rather that finance is better described by biology, and finance “evolves” to meet new and changing opportunities. For example, trading speed driven by computers and electronic market systems has increased exponentially, and new financial products and practices have “evolved” as a result. This can be super damaging – as demonstrated by the derivatives and other questionable financial products which resulted in the 2007 housing crash – but also powerfully enriching for the investor who understands this dynamic.

6. Blockchain: Ultimate Guide to Understanding Blockchain, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, Smart Contracts and the Future of Money, by Mark Gates

I listened to this at the height of Bitcoins market value six months ago – when CNBC commentators couldn’t stop talking about it. The key takeaway is not the plethora of cryptocurrencies, but rather the blockchain technology behind them – and how this technology can act as a highly reliable financial ledger outside of any organizational or government oversight. It’s unclear at this early stage how blockchain and or cryptocurrencies will affect our day to day lives, but this book convinced me that there the blockchain technology is here to stay and will have impact.

6. The Science of Accelerated Learning: Advanced Strategies for Quicker Comprehension, Greater Retention, and Systematic Expertise, by Peter Hollins

Solid, science-driven, condensed identification of the learning techniques that are the most effective including how to teach to learn. Some of this I have seen or read elsewhere, but this book puts it all in one place. Worth your time.

7. Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, by Alex Hutchinson

Deep dive into the many different methods coaches and others have used to push human performance – hydration techniques, cold therapy, nutrition and refueling techniques, equipment hacks, etc. One key takeaway for me – everything seems to work for a 1-3% performance improvement – even placebos. Why? The athlete believes it will improve his/her performance.

For the coach or the athlete, this book addresses directly the myths and conflicting evidence of many of the distractions product marketers pump at us. Great stuff.

8. How An Economy Grows And Why It Crashes, Peter Schiff, Andrew Schiff

Perhaps the best book I’ve read in the past 6 months – brothers Peter and Andrew Schiff begin with a simple parable – 3 guys on an island, each who catches one fish per day to survive – and build from there to explain investment in capital, finance, currency, bonds, debt, and international markets. Like it or not, everything begins with business and economics, and this book cut’s through the hype and hammers the fundamentals in a way which is easily understood and applied. Incredible.

9. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life, Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Taleb became famous for his book The Black Swan. Here he directly questions the wisdom and advice of political and economic elites who offer opinions, and decide policy, but are unaffected directly by the failures of their policy prescriptions, and how not having any “skin in the game” leads to huge mistakes. Taleb descends into a rant at times, and the idea is redundant, but still powerful in it’s questioning of the ruling elite and their “solutions.”

10. Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, Annie Duke

Excellent book on decision making from a world champion professional poker player with a pHD in Psychology – my two big take aways were understanding the difference between bad decisions and bad outcomes, and the importance of a peer group who will give you direct and honest feedback on your decisions and performance. 

11. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan Peterson

Jordan Peterson, an unassuming academic from Canada, is quickly becoming a siren singing an alternative to political correctness and championing masculinity and what it means to be a man. I wasn’t quite as impressed with his 12 rules as Joe Rogan and Tim Ferris – where Dr. Peterson has become a star on the podcast scene and a youtube star – where his videos and lectures have 35 million+ views. Regardless, his ideas and prescriptions have helped many men identify what is important and act. He is not a dynamic speaker, and his prescriptions are not easily digestible or deployed – but they are sincere and true.

12. Principles: Life and Work, Ray Dalio

“Principles” was widely recognized as the best business book last year. Ray Dalio is a hedge fund manager and this book outlines his unemotional, analytical approach to investing and organizational management. The management approach includes brutal honesty and evaluation, clear, unblinking identification of people’s strengths and building project teams based on these, and belief in artificial intelligence to enhance decision making. What is different about Dalio’s effort is the detail – he painstakingly goes into detail of the steps, tools and processes he’s developed to find success. At times this can read like an endless list – but it is not shallow and is appreciated.

13. Psyched Up: How the Science of Mental Preparation Can Help You Succeed, by Daniel McGinn

I’ve worked with several US Ski Team members and professional Freeskiers and have been continually surprised at the lack of any systematic process and training program for the mental game of their sports and performance. In the past I’ve read several books which prescribe mental preparation techniques. What makes McGinn’s book different is his overview of several approaches, and what research has learned about it’s effectiveness. The effort is full of tools to try and apply and reaches beyond sports to better mental preparation for any stressful performance.

14. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, Mark Manson

A popular self help book, what makes Manson’s ideas different is their countuitiveness. Instead of a constant focus on the positive, identify what is important to you, and toss aside everything else. “In life, we have a limited amount of fucks to give,” he writes, “So you must choose your fucks wisely.” Especially applicable for introverts or others allowing themselves to play a role which doesn’t fit.

15. Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal

I really liked Kotler’s previous effort, “The Rise of Superman” – which explored the exponential advances in extreme sport performance. I wasn’t nearly as impressed with this effort, which included advice to take micro-doses of LSD to attain “flow”. Ultimately the authors try to sell a short cut to improved performance – and I’m not a believer in short cuts.

16. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice, Clayton Christensen, Taddy Hall

Christensen’s “The Innovator’s Dilemma” is one of the business books I refer to often. That effort was hindsight focused – and identified how products and companies were disrupted by newcomers. Here he works to help business identify new products which which will have traction in a unique way. Instead of trying to predict what customers need or want, identify “jobs that need done” and build products which do those jobs. It’s an interesting, enlightening insight.

17. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It, Chris Voss

“Getting to Yes” has for years been the bible of negotiation theory. I’ve always thought it was terrible, and now, via Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator, have an alternative. Never Split The Difference brings to negotiation and understanding that emotion is always evolved, and a practical set of tools and tactics you can deploy immediately in business or career negotiations, and to improve personal and family relationships. Great book.

18. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance

I was raised by a widowed Mom with 3 other siblings in a tiny Wyoming town. We were white working poor, but I never understood what this meant until I read Hillbilly Elegy.  Vance’s upbringing – drug addict mother, raised by his grandparents – was different than mine, but the arc of his life is similar. His military service opened his eyes to a new world, new way of viewing life, and new possibilities. Hillbilly Elegy was referenced by many political pundits after Trump’s 2016 Presidential victory as it gives voice to the economic stagnation and challenged faced by many lower and lower middle class white Americans. Vance’s work is not just about his own personal story, but weaves in the larger economic forces (decline of manufacturing, etc.) which has hurt and stagnated the American Dream for many. This is an impactful work.

19. Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter, Steven Rinella

It took me a couple tries to get through Rinella’s effort, but was ultimately impressed by his unflinching look at hunting and trapping, his love for it and they way it connected him to the natural world, and was frankly entertained by his great hunting and fishing stories. As a self-taught, backcountry bow hunter, I’ve come to severely dislike the “celebrity hunter” types, and entire hunting entertainment industry which highlights the kill, only to be interrupted by efforts to sell you something you don’t need. Rinella is part of that now with his own TV show, etc., but this effort from 2012 predates this douche baggery, and is simply, great writing. Another I would recommend even more is Ted Kerasote’s Blood Ties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt.

20. The Book of Why, Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie

Uh … I’ll admit right up front, this book was way over my head quite a bit of the time. But, of all the books on this list of “expansion literature” – this perhaps opened my mind the most. Dr. Pearl is a professor at UCLA, and a recipient of the 2012 Turing Award – the “Noble Prize” for computer science. His work now is focused on artificial intelligence, but this book is really about the history of ideas, philosophy, and mathematics surrounding the differences between “cause” and “correlation”. It points to the significant limitations of traditional statistics. During his career, Dr. Pearl, his students, and colleagues, have developed sophisticated modeling tools which must be applied to data to identify and predict “cause” relationships. I don’t want to get too geeky here, but this technical tome brims with joy about the history of statistical thought, computer science, and intellectual discovery. How does it apply to artificial intelligence? Via the internet of things, we are currently producing gigantic volumes of data, but statistics alone are not powerful enough to discover what’s important. Dr. Pearl and his colleagues have developed modeling which deploys “counterfactuals” which aim to account for impacts from forces or decisions which didn’t occur. I’d explain more, but I’d just get myself in more trouble. The bigger point is artificial intelligence will need to deploy something like Dr. Pearls models to truly advance. Overall, these are very big, powerful, ideas.

You Might Also Like Quiet Professional: On Professional Reading

Military / Homeland Security

Russia is Not America’s Near-Peer Threat, Small Wars Journal
The August War, Ten Years On: A Retrospective on the Russo-Georgian War, War on the Rocks
Islamic State releases photos from deadly raid on military base near Lake Chad, Long War Journal
Islamic State May Still Have 30,000 Fighters In Iraq And Syria, Even After Setbacks, In Homeland Security
Terrorist Attacks Are Quietly Declining Around The World, In Homeland Security
Botched CIA Comms System Blew Cover of Chinese Agents, Real Clear Defense
How America’s Wars Have Created Piles of Debt (And Little Strategic Benefit), The National Interest
Is the U.S. Army Near Becoming Obsolete?, The National Interest
This Is Why Iran Won’t Negotiate with Trump, The National Interest
Trump’s Risky War of Choice Against the Generals, The Atlantic
Shootout: Why the Army Chose Sig Sauer over Glock for Its New Handgun, Task and PurposeRussian Hybrid Warfare as Unconventional Warfare: Implementing a Counter-Unconventional Warfare Strategy, Small Wars Journal
This Is the Army’s Plan for Destroying North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons, The National Interest
The Unintended Consequences of U.S. Disengagement, Washington Post
Trump reportedly showing renewed interest in Erik Prince’s plan to privatize Afghanistan War, Marketwatch
Why Russia Never Became an Aircraft Carrier Powerhouse, The National Interest
Marine Commander Says Rapid Drawdown in Afghanistan Premature, Small Wars Journal
The Growing Risk of a New Middle East War, Rand
A U.S.-Russia Partnership Against China Is Unlikely, Rand

LE / Fire Rescue / Wildland Fire

A Plague of Deadly Hesitation, De-Motivation, and De-Policing in America, Police Magazine
2 WILDLAND RIGS BURN UP AT FIRE IN UTAH, Firefighter Close Calls
Minn. PD outfits officers with camera-mounted guns, Police One
Differences Between a Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Degree, In Homeland Security
Requiem for the Chicago Police Department, LE Today
Texas PD relaxes tattoo policy to recruit, retain officers, Police One
Nearly two million acres on fire in the United States, Science Daily
What the FBI’s new report confirms about active shooters, Police One
WA FIREFIGHTING PLANE CRASHES, PILOT SURVIVES, Firefighter Close Calls

Mountain

The Best Peaks in America, Backpacker
The Best Backpacking Stoves of 2018, Outside
Battle of the Tents: Budget vs. High-End, Outside
The Dawn Wall – Trailer, Redbull
Fly Fishing is Your Ticket to Bonding With the Backcountry, Backpacker
Outdoor Pros Share Their Emergency Gear Kits, Outside
K2 debuts its lineup of 2018-19 skis and boots, Freeskier
Mountain Lion Attacks Bowhunter, Bowhunter.com
‘All In’ Trailer, Outside
The Economic Impact of Outdoor Adventure, Outside
The 13 Best Skis of the Year – These skis received the highest marks across the board from skiers with a host of different backgrounds, Powder Magazine

Fitness / Nutrition

A $180 Steak Sandwich?, WSJ
The Keto Diet, Decoded, Men’s Journal
Eating Before Early Workout Helps Burn Carbs, WebMD
Do Training Masks Actually Enhance Performance?, Muscle & Fitness
The Best Deadlift Variation to Protect Your Back, Muscle & Fitness
The best electric toothbrush, Endgadget
Solving Shoulder Injuries for Gym Bros, Breaking Muscle
Dominant men make decisions faster, Science Daily
College Strength Coaches have Become Strongmen, WSJ
Study Finds Both Low-Carb and High-Carb Diets Linked to Early Death, Muscle & Fitness
Defining the Upper Limits of Fitness, Outside
Logitech’s vertical mouse could save your wrist, Endgadet
Physiotherapy Exercises for Lower Back Pain, Breaking Muscle
A Dwindling Sockeye Catch Makes Alaskans Uneasy, NY Times

Interesting

How Americans and Western Europeans compare on 4 key social and political issues, Pew Research Center
Immigrant, American, Psychology Today
Brussels will ‘not comment’ on reports Britain is spying on EU Brexit committee, Intelnews.org
Shopify Bans Firearms and Ammunition, Soldier Systems
‘Abrupt thaw’ of permafrost beneath lakes could significantly affect climate change models, Science Daily
A majority of Americans support using biotechnology to grow human organs in animals for transplants, Pew Research Center
First lady Melania Trump warns of ‘destructive and harmful’ side of social media, Washington Post
Bitcoin’s Annual Carbon Footprint Is Equal to One Million Transatlantic Flights, Gizmodo
The Browns’ Suckiness Defies Math And Reason, Five Thirty Eight
Takeaways from Venezuela’s Long Descent, War on the Rocks
Elon Musk has reinvigorated the American public company, The Economist
DNA analysis of 6,500-year-old human remains with blue eye mutation, Science Daily
Tired of Twitter? Join Me on Mastodon, Endgadget
The Best (and Mostly Affordable) Classic Cars You Can Buy From 1985-1995, Gear Patrol
Bigger proteins, stronger threads: Synthetic spider silk, Science Daily

In June 2018 Rob was invited by the Denver Fire Department to talk about his philosophy on what it means to be a Quiet Professional.

First penned in October 2015, Rob since then has defined eight pillars of Quiet Professionalism which include:

1) Mission First.

2) Hard Work with a full heart.

3) Understanding the difference between “Experience” and “Wisdom.”

4) Knowing what to do = Easy.
                               Doing it = Hard.

5) Continual Professional Learning.

6) Do your Job with Dignity.

7) Embrace the suck.

8) Gratitude.

Below you can find a total of 5 videos that documented the entire presentation to the firefighters.

This was filmed by a friend of one of the firefighters … so please excuse the quality.

This talk is based on the essay, What Does It Mean to Be a Quiet Professional?

Question, Comments, Feedback? Email rob@mtntactical.com.

You Might Also Like What Does it Mean to be a Quiet Professional?

Our Flash Sale this week includes all of MTI’s Mountain and Ultra Running Plans such as:

• Ultra Pre-Season
• Alpine Running
• 50-Mile Running

and much more…

You can now save 30%* on these plans by entering:
MountainRun30 at checkout.

*This offer ends within 24 hours.

Click through the following plan tree to find your plan:

• MOUNTAIN Running/Ultra
  • Ultra Running
    • Ultra Pre-Season
    • 100-Mile Ultra
    • 50-Mile Ultra
  • Mountain Running
    • Alpine Running
  • Running Strength
    • In-Season Strength for Endurance Athletes
    • Off-Season Strength For Endurance Athletes
    • Core Strength Bodyweight only