AAR: Peterborough, NH - Feb. 19-20, 2011

[Andrew Chesney]

The SB, Firewall99 is not feeling well at this time, but wanted me fill in what info I can for this AAR.  He will add details when he feels better.

SUMMARY:  We had a great shoot!  Windy and cold!  The shooters were a hardy bunch that wouldn't give up.  Two out of seven shot Rifleman, despite the arduous conditions.

Shoot Boss:  Firewall99
Instructors:  Dakota, Andy in NH

Riflemen Made:  2
Riflemen Made Ratio:  28.5%

Day 1 Weather:  Overcast, NW wind at 22mph (gusts to 36), high of 41*F.
Day 2 Weather:  Partly cloudy, NW wind at 14mph (gusts to 24), high of 30*F.

The Monadnock Rod and Gun Club does not have a clubhouse.  They do have a small kitchen (and some great cooks - Thanks Mark and Dave!) and a pavilion.  From a safety and practical standpoint we needed a place to warm up and give classes.  I was able to arrange the use of a Kifaru 24-man tipi to fulfill this need.

Due to the extreme weather conditions; high wind, high temperature (59*F), and loose snow pack on Friday, Firewall99 and myself found it too difficult to erect the big tipi by ourselves.  Instead, we set up a smaller 8-man tipi to satisfy our safety and practical requirements.  As it turned out, this was a good choice with regard to our low shooter turnout.

Dakota keeps an eye on the first day shooters.



Firewall99 and Dakota explain the AQT.



Firewall99 keeps the time during a drill.  It was so windy we used blocks of wood to hold things down.



Robert and Mike warm and out of the wind while listening to history.



The high temperature the day before and the subsequent drop ensured that the range would be a frozen sheet of ice.  One shooter took a pretty good fall and others had some near misses.  Those without metal cleats on their boots walked gingerly.



Robert - our day one Winter-seed Rifleman!



Day Two.

Cindy, a repeat Apple-seeder, all bundled up on her quest for Rifleman.



Rich and Louise take aim.



Firewall99 helps Rich with the 'Best Friend Drill' after switching to an M1 Carbine.



Cindy and Louise work the 'Best Friend Drill'.



Rich earns his Winter-seed Rifleman patch!

[Dakota]

What a trip! It was great working with you guys.
You sure have some hearty and dedicated shooters up there!
I'm sure the shooters that came close to Rifleman will make it next time.
Look forward to working with you again in June!
Dakota

p.s. Thanks for letting me do the 2nd and 3rd strike, it was my first shot at the history.

[Firewall99]

Good job, Andy!

While only two shooters pre-registered, five (5) walked-on, for a total of seven shooters, which is not bad, given that this is our third Winterseed in the state and about the fifth or sixth Winterseed in the region this season.

However I feel Andy is being charitable by listing only the temperature highs.  Towards the end of day one and from then on, it was WAY below freezing.  This, combined with very high winds--up to 50 mph at night--produced modest to extreme wind chill factors that penetrated any opening in our protective layers.

And yet there was barely a peep out of the shooters, and then only when they had to remove their gloves.  (Louise didn't even complain then.)  Sounds like New Englanders to me.

A note about gloves.  Two unrelated shooters, each on a different day, had the same pair of warm-looking wool mittens with the pop-off finger sections that reveal the finger tips.  One of the shooters even had appropriately-thin contact gloves to put on under the wool mittens.  So far so good.  Yet these gloves came off 50% of the time.  Why?

The answer is simple.  The pop-off finger sections did not reveal the thumb, and without the thumb available in "detail/contact" mode, one cannot prep magazines and perform other important functions.

Another problem with these wool mittens is that they are not wind-proof or water-resistant.

For real, sub-zero winter conditions, the optimal type of glove to get is a work glove:

http://www.ergodyne.com/products/pages/default.aspx?PCA=27&PRD=208

And this is one type of contact glove to put under it:

http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/mens/accessories/gloves/pid1006610-ColdGear-174-Liner-Glove/1006610-002

Unfortunately, this Under-Armor contact glove is so thin that it wears out too quickly for our uses.  Either buy several pairs of these, or try a pair of Nomex flight gloves.  The nomex gloves, though, may not provide enough detail/contact function.  (The under glove solution is not yet optimal.  If you find a better solution, please post it over in the NH board in the Cold Weather Equipment thread.)

Andy mentioned having cleats.  Boy, was this an important piece of equipment!  Rather than discuss it here, I have added a message entitled CLEATS! to our Cold Weather Equipment thread on the NH state board:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=4527.new#new

(I mention these equipment items, not to commercialize Appleseed, but to emphasize the importance of being properly prepared to survive extreme conditions.)

Despite these brutal winter conditions, the shooters who showed up did a terrific job and should be proud of themselves.  They are New Englanders.

And two more of them are Winterseed Riflemen.

[Mark Davis]

Good job New Hampshire, we really don't need to spend millions on a study to figure out those who show up when the weather is bad are least likley to complain about it

[Colorado Pete]

Wow! Congrats to the hardy souls who ventured out.

All you need to do now is establish a "Windyseed" shoot on the summit of Mt. Washington! Shooters bring their own 200-lb. boat anchors to keep themselves from being blown away! Targets would be painted on the rocks. You'd get a special patch which would be sewn only halfway on, so it could always 'flap in the breeze'. Although if I remember my hikes up there correctly, 200 lb. anchors may not be heavy enough...