Hello! I’m Caleb Daniels. Commando Bond is dedicated to the firearms, EDC, and lifestyle of 007. I’m so very excited to formally welcome you to the blog! This idea has been rolling around in my head for a while, and I am eager to share this project with you! Here, I will be writing on a variety of topics, slowly expanding the website as I do!
For a little background on me, I am a 23 year old Kansas City native who has grown up in the firearms industry. At the age of 17 I got my first real job working at Frontier Justice, a recently opened firearms store and range in my part of Kansas City. The store had been open no more than a month, I was in the first real hiring cycle. Since then, I have spent every high school and college break, summer, and extended weekend working in the world of firearms. I’ve worked on the sales floor, managed the E-Commerce store, managed the range, hosted special events and so much more—and I absolutely love it. Every single part of this world is my why. I deeply believe in the mission and passion behind what I do, and now, after graduating from college, I am so glad to continue working with a team I am proud to call family.
As for my love of Bond, around the age of 12 my grandfather gave me a collection of Sean Connery DVD’s as a gift. I think it included Thunderball, Goldfinger, From Russia with Love and Diamonds are Forever. After that, I was hooked. I lived for those movies, and forced my friends constantly to watch Goldfinger. The DB5 really captured my imagination, as did the world of James Bond. Sean Connery worked so very hard to make everything look effortless. From his demeanor to his style and sense of adventure, I wanted to live like James Bond. Now, here we are, a little over a decade later and I still feel that way when watching any of the Bond films. I live for bringing the smallest references to Bond into my daily life, and thus we have this channel!
A Little Background
I started Commando Bond as a way to better connect with the Bond community, blending my lifelong passions of firearms and James Bond in the process. For years I had engaged with the amazing folks who produce content as a passive observer. I followed the usual suspects, read the blogs, and loved every second of it. However, when my fiancée graduated college a semester early, and left me back at school alone, I decided to take the plunge and become an active participant in the community. Since then I have had some amazing experiences! From helping my friend David Zaritsky of The Bond Experience host a variety of virtual gatherings, to some amazing podcast interviews, and the opportunity of a lifetime to sit down with my pal Ray Kromphold of The Bond Armory and Cody Osborn of Walther Arms to discuss the 2020 PPK, it’s been a ride. I’ve made genuine friends thanks to this venture. People who I talk to daily, and ones I never would have without this account. Friends like Harris Thomas, Lorenzo Anselmo, and those mentioned above among so many others. I’m so grateful for every single one of them.
So, while Commando Bond started as an Instagram account, I have always been drawn to doing more with the brand. For years I have written long form blogs for a couple companies, and I have always enjoyed it. Writing in general to me is a true passion. I grew up under a real renaissance of incredible storytellers—JK Rowling, Bruce Timm & Paul Dini, Rick Riordan, and John Flanagan just to name a few. Other than Bond’s universe, these incredibly well-crafted worlds were my home. So, all that said, I really believe in the power of storytelling, and the community that you can create with it. With this blog, I hope to articulate my story, connecting you to my experiences with bridging the gap between my reality and the world of 007. I can’t wait to share my experiences with firearms, style and the lifestyle of Bond.
I hope you enjoy this passion project of mine. I really have loved the amazing connections and conversations I have been able to have through the Instagram account (which is going nowhere!), and I hope this new medium gives us a different and more unique way to connect. Welcome to the fun, I can’t wait to chat with you!
All the best,
Caleb
