We’re five episodes into the podcast, so this is a good time to recap what we’re been up to. The goal is interview outstanding founders and builders in civilian defense, and to produce a definitive record of how they built their company and/or how they see today’s landscape.
You can listen to every episode here, and use that same link to subscribe in your podcast app of choice. You can also just open your podcast app and search for the Open Source Defense podcast. Do that so you get notified when a new episode comes out.
Episode 1: Isaac Botkin of T.Rex Arms
This was a great one to start with. There’s nobody with as much perspective on the intersection of gun culture 3.0, tech, and prepared citizenry. Also got into lots of detail on the process of building T.Rex.
0:00 - Intro and background
2:44 - Milestones and growth of T.Rex Arms
9:51 - Challenges of growth as a company
17:45 - Hiring for passion and mission alignment
25:55 - Transparency and honesty in marketing
32:58 - The evolution of gun culture
38:56 - Gun culture 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0
51:44 - Do guns prevent tyranny?
1:02:33 - The future of gun culture, body armor, and night vision
1:21:47 - Lightning round on upcoming gun tech
Episode 2: Jay of Pew Science
The most technically detailed episode in this first batch. Jay gives a masterclass on silencer design.
0:00 - Are low back pressure silencers the end of history?
4:50 - Why silencers break the FN SCAR 17
7:12 - Pistol silencers are hard
19:21 - What were the breakthroughs in silencer technology?
24:06 - Consumers, not the military, are now driving the silencer industry
44:16 - Is there value in modular cans?
48:48 - The mechanics of silencer assembly
54:59 - Standardization in silencer attachment
1:00:41 - Consumer demand vs. military standards
1:05:36 - Flash hider vs. muzzle brake for suppression
1:09:34 - Understanding the SCAR's sensitivity to silencers
1:18:27 - About Pew Science
Episode 3: Jon and Sarah Hauptman of PHLster Holsters
PHLster is one of the most original-thinking companies in the holster game, and we’re big fans of the Enigma. Hear straight from Jon and Sarah on how they build products, their company, and their community.
0:00 - The journey to making holsters
7:58 - What was the need PHLster was responding to?
17:34 - When did Sarah know the Enigma was going to be good?
35:57 - How much of a breakthrough was the Enigma for PHLster?
41:35 - Education and holster fitment as a science
49:28 - What's wrong with telling people to dress around the gun
58:13 - The importance of online communities
1:08:52 - The dynamic around gun products marketed to women
1:20:21 - Social media as a design and manufacturing tool
1:29:48 - Nobody goes to the anti-gun range
Episode 4: David Han Jr. of Canine Defense Technologies
David is a great X follow (@YukonK9) and is on the forefront of pushing drones beyond the old “it’s either a toy or it’s in Ukraine” dichotomy. Really interesting to hear his thoughts on the coming 5-10 years.
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Drone nomenclature
1:44 - Counterdrone tech and the competition between offense and defense
8:42 - Technological lessons from Ukraine
16:16 - Applying those lessons to civilian drone tech
19:16 - What is the FAA getting in the way of?
25:50 - Panics that could drive bad regulation
32:08 - History and mission of Canine Defense
43:29 - Supply chain as limiting factor
44:55 - Innovations in drone propulsion and power
50:10 - Drones as Second Amendment arms and why fears of misuse are probably overblown
58:50 - Growing Canine Defense’s business
1:05:38 - Future products from Canine Defense
1:08:22 - Decentralized community-building with drone swarms
Episode 5: Rob of Constellation Response
Constellation Response makes radios more accessible to lay people, and Rob has good insights into why that’s useful and how it accelerates other tech like drones.
0:00 - Intro to Rob and Constellation Response
4:44 - Why modern civilian comms are changing from the old days
8:11 - The rise of Meshtastic and its applications
18:45 - Acceleration in radios
21:43 - Why Constellation Response is getting into drones
24:17 - Drone training courses
30:01 - The impact of regulation on the cool things you could do with drones
36:31 - The future of autonomous drones
42:11 - 3D printing, drones, AI, and comms feel like something really cool is swirling into shape
46:18 - Are signal jammers going to become a thing in the US?
51:16 - Tethered drones
56:38 - Follow Constellation Response
Episode 6: Tim of Hoffman Tactical
Coming up next. We get into 3D printing of course, drones, the utility of full-auto fire, and airships.
This week’s links
GrabAGun is going public
Good to see a 2A IPO. It’s still a risk, because the public markets create a lot of attack surface for lawfare, but this is a positive sign. Colion Noir is joining the board, too, along with a number of executives from the 2A space.
Interview of Dave Matheny, founder of Silencer Shop
Fun fact, he started Silencer Shop while he was a staff software engineer at VMWare.
Speaking of podcasts, catch us here on The Art and War podcast
Good conversation on tech x guns themes that will be familiar to you, plus Chuck tells some great stories from 11 years at Meta.
About Open Source Defense
OSD Capital
We invest in civilian defense and the tech that accelerates it.
OSD podcast
In-depth interviews with outstanding founders and builders in the civilian defense industry.
The company store
Grab a t-shirt or a sticker.
Discord server
The OSD team is there along with lots of subscribers. Become a paid Substack subscriber to join the chat.
I really like the 'Pew Science' web site using a standardized testing.
Their evaluating of cans is great help when plopping down a grand, waiting, and wondering if the can does what's advertised.