The Prepared Mindset Podcast

Gun violence prevention. Potentially the most over leverage political ideal in the history of modern politicking. It remains an omnipresent issue within every discussion, debate, and campaign, and certainly can be relied on for every election and midterm that rolls around. Unfortunately, as that time draws near, we here in Michigan are dealing with this once more as Governor Whitmer signed another...

Are you really committed to living more prepared? Or is this simply something you take interest in as a hobby? While there are degress to both, I think most of us read those questions, and would like to be included among those counted as "committed" but in the back of our minds fear we are only truly interested. This is a interesting discussion, as I think it forces you to contemplate choices made...

If you've seen any action movie, ever, you love explosive breaching. There's something incredible about seeing a special forces soldier or SEAL place a charge, and blow a door. While most of us don't have the means or the access to try such things, we can always learn about them and position ourselves for greater success in our futures. To dive into this conversation, I'm catching up with Steve, o...

Are we seeing Gun-tube die before our very eyes? This has become a wildy popular topic over the past week or two, and I thought it deserved its own conversation. For better or for worse, the community has been driven by digital content creators for the past decade, and in some cases longer. Information shared, inspiration sparked, goals set, myths disproven, and all because we had the tools availa...

Gear. For better or worse, it drives a huge part of our community, and in many ways, are the tools that enable us for success, or failure. There's more and more options available to us every day, and while it definitely can be exhausting, it's certainly worth talking about the trends, the pitfalls, the truths, and the lies. In this episode, I catch up with Walsh, of Thin Line Defense, who has a de...

Buying NODs is probably one of the most confusing processes in our community. Understanding the new options that are available almost every month, as well as the plethora of secondhand devices, can be an almost impossible maze to navigate. To try and address what I think is the most critical part of a positive night vision purchase, intensifier tube selection, I'm sitting down once again with Shan...

The May SITREP is here, and with it the unfortunate news and impact to consumers, of the failure of Spirit Airlines. Additionally, we have the recent attempt on the President at the White House Correspondents dinner, and a very recent surge in gas prices. As civilians in the continental United States, we have been getting absolutely hammered the last several weeks with price increases at the gas p...

Priorities of Work. While this term/title gets applied most commonly to close quarters battle and structure clearance, I think it's a very appropriate lable for this weeks conversation. As men, as husbands, as heads of households, it is our responsbility to care for our home, our spouse, our children. The decisions we make, the positions we place our families in, are our primary responsibilities....

Many of us have grown up hunting. Some of us have learned it in pursuit of greater preparedness. Still, how to butcher and harvest eludes so many that it's its own industry in many parts of our country, during hunting seasons. I sit down with Jason Nauert, or "Jason the Butcher" as many of you may know him, to talk about his work with the military for combat sustainability, teaching butchering ski...

While the AR platform can be assembled easily, I think many of us know that while almost everyone can put it together, there's a different process all together, for truly building one. Matt Patruno is the owner and co-founder of Two Grunts Inc., a Michigan based rifle company. As a former Marine, and a former Police Officer, Matt knows the importance of a reliable work rifle. From material science...

Lantern Rescue is a Counter Human Trafficking organization, founded in 2020, that helps fight trafficking across the globe. From providing assistance to local law enforcement, to assisting with legislative and prosecutorial practices, Lantern is able to contribute by creating sustainable change in the constant battle against trafficking. In this discussion, I sit down with Lantern's founder, Korri...

Happy Easter everyone! With the turn of the calendar into April, comes another edition of the SITREP. For the first time in a while I have some current developments to share with Prepared Mindset and our YouTube channel, as well as obviously taking the time to get into a few political happenings. Mostly notably, the very recent dismissal of Pam Bondi as the Attorney General of the United States. T...

I catch up with Joe Fasanella, the owner and founder of Grayfighter Gear in this weeks conversation, to talk about the tools and solutions he produces to help modern law enforcement. Of course, as a retired federal agent, and former NYPD cop, Joe is able to speak to several of the unique needs that his gear has been able to address both here in the United States, but also around the globe. Past ny...

I'm catching up with John Ketteman, and in this week's discussion, we're talking about something unique that I haven't truly dove in to on the pod. The realities of applied and physical violence. While this at face value seems like something that applies to every conversation we've had on the pod previously, we've certainly never taken the time to dive into what it really means. While things like...

Mark Smith is the owner/founder of JBS Training Group and has been shooting for over 15 years. JBS offers training all over the country to concerned and prepared citizens, law enforcement, and military who are seeking to improve their shooting abilities. Mark and I dive into a lot in our conversation together from the pitfalls of self-validation and accepting mediocrity, to the different ways of l...

After meeting up at SHOT show just a handful of weeks ago, I finally get to catch up with Jack, the owner and founder of Guerrilla Tactical. Guerrilla was founded, like many companies, during the abundance of free time during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns. Unlike many companies though, when we fast forward to 2026, they are thriving, growing, and expanding. Sitting down with Jack, we talk about the...

As requested by our YouTube audience, here's a re-hashing of a very popular subject, and one that, given the climate of things, is probably of interest to many. Carbines, and how to build one or set one up in a way that will be most advantageous to the prepared end user. While there's some common themes present here, I think there's always room to make some adjustments or changes depending on your...

Rolling into March we have a whole lot to talk about, as news breaks of the United States and partner nations launching attacks against Iran. While this has been something of much speculation over the past months, it has now become a reality, with impacts that I believe we are all to feel in more than one way. From the economic impacts, the influence to the country via media channels, and more, th...

I catch up with Kevin in this weeks episode, and given the rather unfortunate news delivered by that ridiculous rodent Punxsutawney Phil, it seems only appropriate that we talk about the harsh winter we've been experiencing. Specifically, given the severity of the weather across the nation, we take the opportunity to dive into survival skills that specifically apply to the winter, the harsh cold,...

Ken Decker is a former 3/75 Ranger, and the current head of Long Range Training for Core Vision Training. As a subject expert, Kenny was one of the guest instructors at a charity event I attended a couple years ago and I've been working to get him on for a conversation ever since. Sitting down together this week, we took the opportunity to of course talk about scoped carbines, but also about some...

Dogs are fantastic. They are a strong and spirited companion, and a total force multiplier in the field, whether that's Law Enforcement or Military applications. To dive into this, I finally am able to sit down with my friend Tommy Marchitto and ask many of the questions I've had about working with dogs in tactical applications. Tommy is a Law Enforcement veteran of 13 years, spending a large port...

John Ketteman served 11 years in the U.S. Army were he had the opportunity to train alongside many talented men and women, and attend the legendary Q course. From his experiences in the military, he's become an outstanding professional shooter, as well as educator, sharing his lessons learned in both the tactical and competitive realms. We dive into the overlapping concepts that exist between thes...

January has flown by and brought with it some record setting weather, as well as a few unfortunate events in Minnesota. In this episode of The Sunday SITREP, we examine the rising tensions between ICE and protestors, and talk about two fatal incidents which could possibly have been avoided, but may possibly have been justified as well. With so much internet speculation and media input on both, it'...

The sports, hunting, and outdoor trade show, better known as SHOT show, takes place every year in Las Vegas, and for the first time, The Prepared Mindset was able to attend. This is something that I've been working towards and very much anticipating, as many do, for a long time, and was every bit the learning and networking opportunity that I had hoped it would be. Lexy and I sit down and recap th...

For years, the phrase "Modern Minuteman" has been latched on to by those of us in the preparedness community as a way to self identify, and to a extent, justify our efforts. While it's a nifty idea and catchy label, I personally think that it's become one of the more detrimental ideologies in todays community. There's a certain amount of personal awareness, and accountability that is required when...