Capitalizing on the success of the Magpul series of videos, comes this new series from Daniel Defense:
My initial impression is that production value looks pretty high, not quite as good as the Magpul videos, but still really good.
I do have one problem with these new Daniel Defense videos though, Larry Vickers.
I was aware he existed before hand, but only through his Vickers Tactical firearm products. They make a hell of a 2 point sling (I own the Victory Series sling).
I developed a pretty strong opinion of him after seeing one of the latest promo videos he made for Daniel Defense:
In the promo video he breaks 3 of my general life rules:
- Don’t use an slang word like “homes” in a video to a bunch of people you don’t know if you are over the age of 35.
- Don’t talk AT people… talk TO them. There is a big difference.
- Don’t pretend that you are well known by a particular nickname which you thought was cool so you started calling yourself it, in hopes it would catch on. In this case it’s “The LAV”, and it just sounds hilarious coming out of his own mouth.
The video is actually an edit of the original video which Daniel Defense took down for damage control because of the controversy of Larry Vickers calling AR15.com members “Assclowns who repair laserjet printers during the day, secretly watch spongebob during the evening”. Thanks to the awesomeness of the internet it is still available HERE.
I’m sure Daniel Defense and Larry will make a lot of money off the training videos… but if not, at least they generated a ton of exposure for both of their companies through the hype videos and the controversy.
It’s good to see the businesses in the realm of firearms delivering new content using up to date technology.
Comments
56 responses to “Vickers Tactical Training Series – Carbine I and II from Daniel Defense”
I have a slightly different opinion of Larry Vickers. The guy’s resume is strong and he shoots very well on his Tactical Arms television show. Given his US SOF background, the guy definitely has the credentials to do a video like this if Chris Costa of Magpul can do it.
That being said, it’s hard to take someone seriously about “fighting” when they are 100 pounds over weight. I’m sure this “homes” was one bad, cut, trim war machine in his prime in order to make the cut for Delta. Now he looks like he has just thrown all that hard work away. In fact, he actually looks like he’s lost a bit of weight of the videos in the post! Having a gut doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have the skill required as a shooter and instructor, but its just hard to connect the dots when he doesn’t look the part.
As for the AR15.com comment, his joke has some hard truth behind it. It may hurt trying to sell DVDs but it probably doesn’t hurt the feelings of his core training class customer base.
I find it funny that you mention his SF background yet his “appreance” is what throws you off? Last time I checked you did not have to be built like a 20 year old to run a gun effectivley, when his combined rounds down range are more than all the ARFCOM guys combined…only thing the ARFCOM guys maybe have is relation to Larry Vickers, trigger time are Key Stokes
Thank you, Mike. Thank you so much.
haha you’re welcome.
I’m gonna have to agree with RM on this one. Qualifications or not, image is everything in this day and age. I see these DVD’s being a flop.
Ah another Keyboard commando, i wish you guys who were posting these comments posted picutures of yourselves…along with your comments. Maybe you can post one of you and your Airsoft team.
Slick production aside, these videos should offer techniques that aren’t dependant on running name brand gear. I don’t see anything new coming off this preview.
Moreover, what is this video going to show us that differs from the Magpul curriculum? I’d pay for an overpriced Infidel Media dvd before I pay for this crap.
You shoulda seen the sheetstorm on AR15.com over his comments aimed at arfcom’s members. Larry has a big mouth.
I heard about it.. funny stuff. haha
DANYO DUH-FENCE!!!
The LAV looks pretty low-speed-high-drag now.
HAHAHAHA
“Low-speed-high-drag” PRICELESS
LOL nice
I’m with RM too. I’ll pass on these dvds.
Too many ego’s like “LAVs” around the shooting sports too support this kind of talk-at-you / i-am-a-shooting-god crap.
Is LAV short for lavatory or did he have some other reason for giving himself that nickname?
Do you suppose maybe it stems from the fact that his name is LArry Vickers… If you weren’t able to come to that obvious conclusion… wow!
His initials are L.A.V. Not sure what his middle name is.
Guy’s definitely got the creds up the wazoo as mentioned. But remember, even if you can’t stand someone, it doesn’t necessarily invalidate the knowledge they can share. Take from it what you can and move on; don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Great comment Chris.
the only thing ive ever called a “Lav” was the bathroom. as in lavatory
Maybe he was a $hit-magnet?
Long ago and far away I was a Marine. I’m a chubby guy with a bad back now and while I may still be mean, I’m sure not as lean! I’d be embarrassed to try and hawk a tactics vid toting my spare tire! Costa and crew look and act the part, as all have pretty much said. Knowledge is good! Experience, a plus. Knowledge + Experience + Looking like you can still kick ass, that’s good marketing. Plus, this guy’s a bit of a blowhard. Who wants to pay for that?
in my experiences most true operators are anything but blowhards. what kind of experience does this guy have as SF? ive got a buddy that is SF, a cook. but he still is considered SF. is the LAV a true 18 series operator or just one of the thousands of people that had been assigned to a SF unit
You need to pull your head out of your fourth point of contact and do a little reading (I knew who he was, but needed a refresher on all the specifics). He was a member of several SF groups prior to passing CAG selection and joining that little group. So, in addition to the Special Forces Q Course that he passed to be in SF, and the OTC that he passed to join Delta, he went to Military Freefall School (he may have done that in SF, but all operators do as well), and SOTIC (those guys also go to many civilian shooting courses throughout their tenure in CAG also). He’s got a Bronze Star with V Device for action in Panama, a Joint Service Commendation with V Device for Desert Storm, a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and a Meritorious Service Medal, among others. He participated in the rescue of hostage Kurt Muse that kicked off the invasion of Panama, served in the first Gulf War, and was part of Operation Gothic Serpent in Somalia.
You think he’s qualified to teach you a thing or two, Specialist?
Not to mention, he lived through chopper crashes that would have sent the rest of us home in a box. Sadly, the last one was career ending for this hero. I’m proud to have known him.
Take a look at yourself in the mirror before you start hammering on someone when you haven’t been there and you haven’t done that.
He was in CAG.
I’m not concerned about how his weight looks, I’m more concerned that he looks *slow*. Maybe it’s just the video editing, but if you’re going to teach me to do a 8-second reload, I’ll pass.
I don’t care about his comments as much or his weight, I just find the guy to be abrasive, and egotistical. I’ve seen other comments from him that basically said of ALL the firearms instructors in the world HE was more important because he was on TV.
I also sometimes laugh when I see him on tactical arms because he looks so airsoft.
Anyway, I’m sure DD is great, but they could stand to pick some better promoters that are not so divisive.
I haven’t met anyone yet that could stand the talk-down-to-you/ dramatic dummied down-language guy from Future Weapons. People like that don’t seem to last too long in the spot light.
Daniel Defence may be fanricfic, but I will stick with my much more economic AK.
Vickers isn’t a humble man, nor a diplomat. That said, he has a serious resume, and certainly knows a heck of a lot more about shooting than I likely ever will, so I’m not going to discount the knowledge he can share. Will I buy his videos? Probably not.
Would I try to learn from him if I had the chance?
No doubt.
I was able to attend a training course run by Larry at my local gun club this summer. I gotta say in person he’s very down to earth, very approachable. It was a small course (12 students) and everybody got a lot of face time. It was priced the same as similar courses I’ve taken over the years, but I gotta say I learned a lot from Larry. I agree he does come off a bit goofy in these vids. That said, I don’t begrudge him “cashing in” at all, IMO he’s earned it. I’m not sure what’s with all the comments about his weight, he is an older guy, this isn’t a fitness video. Having seen the guy in person I can say that he’s in better shape than most guys his age, and I have no doubt that he can back up all that smack talk with plenty of real smack.
I’m with you bro. I can tell you from having had the honor of learning from Larry, ( I probably wouldn’t be typing this if I did not have the instruction in the military that I did ) he is far from a dick head. Learning from Larry is like having Kobe Bryant teaching you how to shoot free throws. I don’t know about you, but if Kobe Bryant rubbed me wrong, I would suck it up and STILL take the knowledge he as. In regards to his weight, I think he has earned the right to carry whatever extra pounds he wants, for Christs sake he put the boots to the ass for two decades in the most demanding special operations unit in the world. He may have a massive mouth, but that does not detract from his abilities as a shooter and his abilities to teach you something you probably do not know. We are not talking about some NRA firearms instructor, we are talking about someone who has actually utilized these techniques in theater. That kind of knowledge is priceless. So if for whatever reason you are offended ( I don’t know why you would be) grow a spine and move on, or go back to working on printers and argue about it on ar15.com lol (there is a reason why anyone who actually has knowledge has moved on to other websites. Enough said)
I want to take my car-bean skills to the next level. I don’t like this guy to be honest but then I’m English and we’re all so polite and good humoured. His attitude grates on me though. He may be the best trainer in the world but he doesn’t seem like the best communicator.
Seriously? How do you run a gun blog and not know who Larry vickers is? That’s like not knowing who Ken Hackthorn is. Or Col. Cooper.
Besides being a gun celeb, he’s also one of the most well respected firearms instructors around, so you can probably give him some benefit of the doubt wrt this trailer.
Read the article, he said that he was aware that Vickers existed before hand.
Yes, he knows that vickers name is on a sling.
[…] Vickers Tactical DVDs […]
All this smack talk about Larry Vickers. The only thing people can do here is criticize his demeanor, based on some video clips. Who here has ever spoken with the man? If you did, you might get a very different impression of him. He is highly experienced and he’s got a great sense of humor (hence the AR Forum comment). Get off your high and mighty armchairs and take a class with the man. Don’t judge a man by a sound-byte. – Especially when it’s the LAV…..Holmes!
I agree w/ Josh–a reality check is needed… Listen to all these people… “he’s so egotistical… he’s not polite”
Who cares! This isn’t miss America, this is learning how to use a firearm to KILL PEOPLE as quickly and effectively as possible. Have any of you been in Delta? Didn’t think so…
Do you get into Delta by being a nice guy? Didn’t think so… Regardless of his personality, I’m gonna watch and listen to this guy like a hawk to learn and glean anything I can from his experience. If you’re smart, you would to.
I learned more from my drill sgt than I ever did in diversity awareness seminars, so apparently the “nice guy” approach may not be as effective as simply being direct.
I do know my DDM4 is a damn fine machine, and so DD is doing something right. This may not be a blockbuster selling video, but I think most folks who are serious about it will give it a look and see. I enjoyed watching the Magpul videos, and I’m sure there will be a ton of overlap between the two series.
I think a lot of conclusions are being drawn from a few short videos. I dont know Vickers but I have met a few Delta/CAG/etc Operators and shot with a few. A few observations.
1. The worst of them can teach most of us a thing or three about shooting. If nothing else, if you are very good they can at least give you some solid small tips on this or that. Delta selection does not select good shooters, it selects people that are completely self-motivating, driven, disciplined and capable of learning with intense concentration from 12 hours a day, every day. These are the traits that can produce champion athletes, businessmen or more accurately people that are successful at whatever they choose to do. They then give them expert instruction, world class training facilities and unlimited ammunition to train with. He is by default an excellent shooter.
2. Someone wondered about his big mouth, Delta Operators dont make it if they run their mouth a lot. For any attitude he has, there is a lot of things he has done that he is not talking about. For all we know the DD people that wanted the promo video told him to act like that or didnt take a lot of time to script out the video. Sample size is too small and we dont have enough context to come to any conclusions.
3. Training: Those who cannot do, teach. That is not always because they could never do. Sometimes they just get old and cannot perform at the same level. Injuries, years of hard training and operations and just time wear people down. The good thing is that Vickers has been out and training people for a while now. I think he was in training when he was in the military also. The advantage of someone who has been a trainer for a while is he is probably a better trainer than he was while operational. He brought the same mental traits that I mention in 1 to becoming an excellent trainer. He started out training and built an excellent base of clients in NC. I can also tell you from personal experience that NC has no shortage of retired special operations trainers and to establish oneself as the preeminent trainer in that market speaks highly of someone.
I dont know if I will buy the videos, probably not, but that is because I have far more videos than training classes in the last few years. I think people need to calm down. If you are under 35 and know so much about the online and DVD firearms market, then you probably should be shooting more and surfing less.
It’s a good thing DVD’s and the internet didn’t exist when Colonel Jeff Cooper was starting the civilian firearms training industry. If you want a perfect on camera personality to teach you how to use a firearm to kill other humans, call Matt Damon? Maybe. I too come from NC, just 40 miles from Fort Bragg and there are hundreds of former SF and Rangers waiting to train you and take your money. Many of them have a hard time dialing their type A personality down to a level that doesn’t send the average weekend warrior/dentist heading for his BMW SUV to get out of the heat. They generally spend the first 4 hours sorting out everyone’s overpriced and under performing gear. It’s not good to look to your right and see the next guy on the firing line in shorts and flip flops with a golf belt holding his holster out of place. They make these DVD’s to help prepare you for actual range training. If you don’t have the stomach for the training, stay in your living room and watch DVD’s and YouTube. Otherwise, buy ammo, plenty of mags, good boots, knee pads, sunscreen and put your money where your mouth is. Larry is not far from 60 years old. He can teach just about anyone a lot about using small arms to save your butt.
All,
I know this is late to the game here… I had the opportunity to be trained by Vickers in Raleigh/Durham and it was hot as hell and despite his size he still managed to make us look like sissies. And he can shoot like no ones business. He is not in the shape he was when he was in his prime but none of us are and we can still kick ass. LAV does have a bit of an ego… but he can back it up. As big as his ego is, his talent is still bigger.
[…] “The LAV” isn’t quite as obnoxious in this video as in the previous one I got a lot of flack for criticizing. […]
[…] “The LAV” isn’t quite as obnoxious in this video as in the previous one I got a lot of flack for criticizing. […]
If I have to hear him say “Dayno Defense” again, I’ll shoot myself in the ears
[…] this guy sounds like the LAV of snake killing. Needs more “Listen up homes, I got something to tell you, stop what […]
Bragging about yourself for the first 30+ seconds of a 4 minute promo video is a general marketing (and common sense) no-no. Nobody wants to hear you talk about yourself, have a little ticker pop up on the bottom with your cred and SHOW what you can do.
This guys too arrogant, it would probably be like P90X. “Look at how awesome I am for an hour a day while I tell you what to do.” Good results, but annoying as crap.
I’ll stick with Magpul and hope someone other than this guy picks up on the AK family…
“Pay attention to me, i’m important and famous” LOL
And i like hearing his rambling. He’s like the john madden of firearms lol.
Got my ass kicked by a fat boy one time. He didn’t get winded or anything. Didn’t last that long. He had better skills than me. Not only that he out maneuvered, and out shot me that same day. Again skill. They were all kinds of those skinny little fella in the course. Didn’t mean a lot for this guy he smoked us all. No he was not what he use to be back in the 60’s and sure as hell was not pretty. But the man could fight and run a gun. No one really liked him to much. but we learned any thing he would teach. Because we wanted to learn not join his fan club or ask him on a date. If you already have skills that out match LAV or anyone else, dont bother with it. The key word is skills. Skills that can be transferred to me that lacks them. I dont give a rats ass if he is fat, skinny, or even if he smells funny. If he has something I can put in my little bag of tricks, then I’ll do what I need to do. That fat corn feed bastard that trained me and others, has saved me more that once by skills he passed on. If offered to train under him again I’d be first in line. I’d take a bar of soap and a biscuit but I would be there. Just because they dont look the way YOU want them to look, or act the way YOU want them to act, dont mean they dont have the skill to kill you.
This.
[…] guy should team up with “The LAV“! There would be so many great one […]
Hey, I like Sponge Bob. No need to keep it a secret, holmes.
[…] Finally a hype man at DD who talks TO the viewer, not at them. […]
The guys talking shit on here about Larry Vickers haven’t done ONE TENTH of the things he did in the military…TALK ABOUT MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACKS, and in case these punks haven’t heard, NO ONE stays slim and trim forever, especially when you have injuries, chopper crashes, residual trauma, permanent disabilities…..just because you make it to retirement with both arms and both legs doesn’t mean you are 100 per cent. I cant believe some of the shit being said here….
Apparently most of you have not been in the military, nor in a combat arms MOS. Most of the good and well respected instructors you find in the Army have a boisterous personality. Don’t mistake confidence for ego.
I spent 6 years as an active duty Airborne Infantryman and don’t have a fraction of the knowledge that Larry Vickers has.
If you are looking for a date and don’t like the way he looks then move on……..
98% of you couldn’t pass an Army APFT in the female standards.