"You have to slow your heart rate, stay calm. You have to shoot in between your heartbeats."
- Chris Kyle (US Navy SEAL sniper) -
In my time on Hive I've connected with many people who share similar interests as myself. One of those interests is firearms and shooting which I have done for a long time now.
It was really cool to find a few who shared this interest and whilst some have fallen by the wayside there's still a few who post into a community I set up focusing on outdoors, prepping, camping, survival, military and firearms called The Pew : Guns & more . It's a niche community and only a few post in there, but those who do post with passion, respect, intelligence and from a position of knowledge. They're good folks.
One such chap is 
Kris commented recently about the fact his wife was making and selling things online via her store, Desi's Threads, with one item in particular that may be of interest to me. He was referring to a t-shirt that mentioned the one mile club. I was interested and here's the story. But first, some background.
Back in my early shooting days I was a hunter like many others. A long shot was 200 metres and that was rare. I used a scope and did a lot of guessing and generally hit where I needed to but I wasn't trained and applied zero science.
Soon after I was in a position to gain some real skill, learn how to send rounds down range at great distance, and jumped at the chance. It wasn't long before I realised how inept a shooter I'd been.
Very quickly my idea of distance itself changed, as did my skills. Before long I considered 200m close range and began to push the limits to 500, 800 and 1000 metres and far more. I learned about ballistics, trajectory, Coriolis effect, aerodynamic jump [gyroscopic response of the bullet spinning at a slight angle], slope angle, effects of the environment and altitude, spin-drift and many other elements.
I also learned about the equipment required to send rounds at distance: Rifle, scope, bi-pod, muzzle brake, laser range finders, ballistics solvers, correct rifle-system set up and so much more.
I began to understand the importance of accurate ammunition, standard deviation of muzzle velocity, neck tension, jump to the lands, overall length...A science in itself. At the time I used match grade factory ammunition, now I make my own and it's as close to perfect as a thing can get.
This, together with shooting technique, breathing, trigger control, body position, shooting between heart beats, reading and accurately calling wind conditions, shooting under pressure and many other factors saw me stretch the distance I could accurately shoot [with an acceptable hit-probability] out to much greater distance.
In short, I became a very proficient long range shooter and over the years put that skill to good use.
Sometimes I look back at the younger me and how excited I was when I came to the realisation that at 1000 metres I was unlikely to miss my point of aim by much, if any at all. I was [am] a very accurate shooter and as my skills got better the range got greater until one mile was comfortable; that's 1,609 metres.
I never disclose my overall distance here [or anywhere else] and don't feel any compulsion to do so; I know, and others who need to know, are aware of what I can do and there's no need to brag about it. I'm proud of my achievements and of myself for doing the hard work and that's what really counts...But, let's get back to
One I got the website from Kris I hit it and found the shirt in question.
It's embroidered with a logo depicting a gong, a steel plate which provides an audible sound when struck with a rifle round, which sits on a target stand down range. This is, typically, what is shot at when a long range shooter is training or practicing. You can see a picture of a round version below through the scope at over 700 metres which I took a few years ago.
As soon as I saw the shirt I wanted one however I'll be honest and say, even if I didn't want one, I'd want one. I just think it's cool to support people, especially Hive people, who do cool things. I enjoy the exchange of stuff and was excited to get through to the shopping cart and place my order until...No shipping to Australia.
But, if you think that was a problem you're stark raving bonkers! I sent Kris a Discord message and before I knew it, UPS to Australia was set up in the cart. I placed my order and sat back waiting for my cool shirt to arrive until...I found out I ordered a small size.
But, if you think that was a problem you're even more stark raving bonkers than the last time! Kris sent me a Discord message saying something like, hey knucklehead, unless you're a midget you'll probably not want a small size.
OK, he didn't say that at all, but he let me know I'd missed the mark as far as sizes went and before I knew it...Large shirt on its way to my door.
That was under a couple weeks ago, 5th March I believe. Today, ten days later, my shirt arrived and I tore open the packaging carefully opened the package with great reverence, pulled it out and tried it on. Perfect fit. I'm glad I didn't end up with that small, I would have looked, well...let's not go there; suffice it to say that I'm a size large, no more, no less.
The main image above shows me wearing it and the image immediately above is a close up on the embroidery. The shirt is super comfortable, one of the Gildan soft-style shirts of which I have many. The colour is very natural which is great as I tend to wear natural tones mainly and I think I'll be wearing this shirt a lot...Until it completely dies and then some.
There's something really cool about Hive in that it brings people together. Sure, not everyone is together, but I'm lucky to have some nice people around me and I value them greatly.
The sharing of thoughts, ideas and opinions is so great but with a very few it goes a little deeper. I've sent packages to several people around the world, with another currently on the way to 
I'd like to thank Kris and his lovely wife for shipping my shirt so quickly and I'll wear it the next time I'm out smacking gongs at a mile and more and probably make the other lads jealous that that they don't have one.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
The images are all mine
