This is a question I get asked somewhat frequently. It is the question of why do you install Kali on bare metal. Well, actually there's a couple reasons, using a VM on a laptop in the field is slow to say the least and there's some issues when it comes to connecting to networks or using a VPN. Then there's the matter of configuration. If you've actually used Kali (or any pentest distro) and I mean really used, you'll know that getting it configured for one host can take some time, but with a bare metal install, I can setup a test env for a customer and save it and have easy access to it. I'm not going through that amount of time and storing on a persistent usb, I've had so many of those just go bad unknown reasons. Not to mention they get lost, broken and after a couple kernel upgrades they get slow. Besides, I'm not using them to test a VM on my own network, which inherently presents issues not common to a LAN lab. Most of the time I will hack naked, and no that doesn't mean what you think. Think of a normal setup as a DWI checkpoint, you gotta stop and you have to have your router and ISP and they can restrict certain functions or ports. I just use the side road around it. No firewall (eitherway), all ports accessible. It's essentially a WAN connection with a router or ISP to go through (sort of). Obviously there still has to be a provider but I just use a readylinks modem that has a cable and fiber input with 2 outputs. Of course you can't just plug it in and it works, there's some "steps" involved.
