TALE OF TWO SIMULATORS

We Try Out Both Big-Screen and Virtual Reality Training

- Dave Merrill and Patrick McCarthy

Since the first time someone picked up a tree limb and pretended it was a sword, we’ve been continually seeking out and developing new training techniques. The search for better and more immersive environments while balancing time and cost is unending. New technologies often start as expensive propositions, but they become more viable as development continues and cost diminishes.

Today, we’ll be covering two different approaches to the same thing: advanced, safe, and immersive training systems that don’t require the use of live ammunition. In particular, the VirTra 300, which uses a large screen, and the ChimeraXR Mythos, which uses virtual reality headsets.

VIRTRA 300

Summer 2020 in Arizona wasn’t conducive to live-fire training, given the perfect storm of 115-degree temperatures, wildfire-related shooting restrictions on public land, COVID-induced range closures, and extremely high ammo prices. Rather than rely solely on dry-fire practice at home, we decided this was the ideal time to try out the state-of-the-art VirTra firearms simulator at the Haley Strategic headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. Haley’s D7 Disruptive Performance course is a two-day program that’s limited to just five students, and it takes place without a single live round fired. We attended a D7 Carbine class, but Handgun and Handgun Lowlight versions are also available.