All posts by Soda_Pop

New Patterns and the reality of camo

TruSpec MulticamThere are a ton of cool looking camo patterns out there that are fun to wear while playing airesoft or paintball and then there are camo patterns that are absolutely useless in the military and are going to put you in the crosshairs of an enemy sniper because you standout like a groundhog on a hill.   Digital pattern camo was cool when it first came out but it doesn’t work well.  The idea was theoretically good but didn’t work.   Multicam was a big step forward and what looks like the military is going to up in the air after some testing with CrTruSpec MulticamTruSpec Multicam combat shirtMulticam Assault suitye Precision’s MultiCam, it looks like budget cuts might hold that idea up.   My standards for what actually works in camo is from a bow hunters point of view. If the pattern makes you hard to spot in a tree stand it’s probable a good idea for the military.

There is a new Multicam black that has been hard to keep on the shelves because like the previous Multicam, it actually works well in many environments.   The majority of the multicam we are carrying is the TruSpec multicam which comes in various products from the 24/7  Series tactical pants for $64.95 to the once piece assault suit.   I personally find the Assault suit to be a very nice bow hunting option because it has knee pads and elbow pads built into it although I know it’s kind of pricey.   The new combat shirts should be in sometime in the next month with the multicam and multicam black.

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Tactical clothing fabrics

tactical pantsEveryone in this industry wants comfort and there is a difference between a Police Officers uniform comfort a Soldiers comfort and someone going to training on a firearm range.   I hear so many nightmare stories from our Law Enforcement about all the bad tailoring the get, they get measure so it will fit properly, and then when it’s on them, it’s not right.   We’ve noticed differences in fit, from tactical clothing company to tactical clothing company and it’s definitely there.   Comparing pants with elastic waistbands to tailored clothing is a bad idea.   One reason we have a fitting room is our customers have to decide for “themselves” of what is comfortable for them.   Once you get the proper fit, there is another area of comfort and that is with the fabrics.

It usually starts with a varying degree off cotton to give breath ability because it’s assumed in this world that you will be moving and sweating.  Most of  your perspiration is release from you upper body so tactical pants won’t have ventilation like shirts due but varying degrees of durability is what is offered.   100% cotton ripstop is probable the most comfortable, but the least durable, but hot environments you don’t want to sweat to death, but the nylon stand prevents tearing which actually what it was designed for in the Pacific theater in WWII.  Cotton canvas is durable but can absorb moisture,   Poly/cotton ripstop is a stiffer feel and Blackhawk, Tru-Spec and 5.11 have made a big foothold in the industry with this material.   Many Tru-Extreme or Combat Uniforms have poly/cotton or 50/50 Cordura.  Spandex and Lycra are two other materials you will find in these products as well as Vertx tactical pants to give the material some ability to stretch.

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Carbine modifications and consistency with furniture

Magpul StocksI’ve tried out several modifications on my M4 and some of them just didn’t cut it.   There are plenty of brands that show up at gun shows and look cool, but i’ve taken that plunge, can’t remember the brand names of all of them, but then cracked grips and wobble parts will eventually show face on the firing line.   I’ve got about 8yrs on the LWRC M6A1 and although it’s got the newer piston design than it originally was designed with, castle nuts have come loose, folding foregrips have broken and magazines have failed.   All mechanical devices have their breaking point and for people who are in situations where that can mean death, all I have to say is, Smart people tend to live longer.

I see all the fragility of many of these airsoft guns out there, but for youth just having fun, it’s a learning experience.    The difference between the Magpul stocks is significant because you have to find that sweet spot with your cheek weld and not everyone is going to be the same.   Hand sizes can differe and someone with small hands is not going to want the AFG1 or a Tapco SAW Grip.   The most popular AR15 grips from our point of you are the Hogue finger groove grips and the Magpul MOE + rubber grips.   Some  batter compartments and gun cleaning kits do not work in both the MAGPUL MOE Grip and the Magpul MOE + so if you have something you are using presently be careful you don’t do an upgrade and find out some of your gear won’t transition over.

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Fast shots while hunting

rifle sightsLots of things have changed pertaining to firearm accessories, back in the stay, putting  a side saddle on your shotgun or putting a rifle stock shell holder was considering “accessorizing” but now some shotguns have been modified and altered that it sometimes difficult for me to tell if it’s a Remington 870 or a Mossberg 590.   I have been eyeballing some of the hiviz rifle and shotgun sights for awhile now because even though I feel proficient with my Marlin 35 Remington,   there have been times in the morning where my rifle sights (iron sights) were difficult to see.  I’ve avoided putting optics on my level actions because I wanted to get the most out of the firearm with out adding weight or having a gunsmith properly mount it.

Several customers in recent months have had negative things to say about some of the red dot optics that are on the market and they claim that all they see is fuzz and “flaring” when they look through them, the truth of the matter is this is a common problem with red dot optics and why larger dots, although can obscure things at distance, give better clarity of focal points.   Many of the Hiviz rifle sights will give you the illuminated targeting for a fraction of the cost of an optic and I’ve heard great things about people putting them on shotguns and level actions.   You can get a bead or a magnetic front sight from Meprolite for a Remington 870, AR15, lever actions and even AK.

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Preparing for emergencies in different climate seasons

Wise Emergency Food StorageI think up here in the Northeast, most of the major power losses occur in the Summer when major thunderstorms roll through and trees come down and knock out power.   We get wacked with hurricanes every couple decades and most people up in my neck of the woods have stories about them.  This year was very different, we are dealing with one of the highest recorded amount of snow and several ice storms and never ending snow storms have piled up on power lines.   The idea of being without refrigeration like you have in the summer doesn’t matter when it’s 6 degrees fahrenheit and all you have to do is move your freezer outside, but there are problems that extreme cold temps can cause you when you loose power.

If you have a gas stove you will still need to melt snow or keep water from freezing if possible, but fruits and vegetables are going to go bad if they freeze.   Having an item like the Wise Food Storage in your emergency food storage supply is going to come handy in these situations.  We have several local emergency management departments buying the larger serving kits to drop off in neighborhoods when people loose power for more than a week.   Things people don’t realize until it happens so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on what happens around the Country from weather channel cable news and see how they dealt with it.    These are sometimes once or twice in a life time incidences but we got our warnings in 2014 to be prepared for the next round or the next year.

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Staying in action when things go wrong at the range

Smith Optics Elite eyewearThere are always things to prepare for and after my experience on firing ranges, I’ve seen things in recent years that never happened to me or anyone before.   People with more experience than me probable see this stuff every year but for me it’s once  in a 25yr cycle.    I have  had stovepipes, failures to feed, broken Mini 14 extractors, gas keys coming loose and people just stare at their guns and don’t have the slightest clue how to narrow down what is failing. In a real gun fight, that means if you don’t have a secondary firearm, you are out of the fight and your best thing to do is turn around and run.   I have broken shell extractors, extra gun lubrication and sight adjustment tools and stock wrenches with me every time I go to the range.   I usually end up helping someone else out with their “bad experience” but hope I’m just passing on the information so someone else can solve a problem quicker.

Has anyone ever gone to the range and had to call it a day because their extractor broke, shell got stuck, or even worse, the gun closed on a loaded round and you couldn’t open the action?   What about when you get a chip in your eyewear or some form of rock or lead flies up at you?  Quikclot combat gauze is on me at all times for the really bad, but I learned my lesson about reloading and buying cheap surplus ammo and my Smith Optics Elite eyewear Aegis kit with different lenses for different lighting situations are also on me.   The Aegis Echo, Aegis Compact and the standard kit as well as the Asian fit all have different frames but  you’ll probable have to stop in our store to try them on so  you know you have the proper design.

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You’ll never watch another action movie the same when…

There is a saying in the music industry that once you learn how a record is made, you’ll never listen to a CD, record or song on the radio the same way.   In the firearm industry, once you become an NRA Firearm Instructor, you’ll never watch an action movie the same way either.   We have several people in our customer base that travel around the world, Europe, Asia, North American ect,  as a consultant on how the military or Law Enforcement should have their duty gear on, what color lights the Polie use in different Countries and yes, even the sounds of the sirens.   If an action movie involved a Die Hard movie where the LAPD had Police sirens that sound like they were in Paris France, somebody will call it.   There are some pretty funny mistakes in some of these movies that you know the Directors didn’t know until it got out, check out “movie mistakes” and pick your Action Titles.

I’ve seen Police Chiefs on National stages make inaccurate statements about the firearm in their hands, like calling for a National ban on assault rifles like this AK47, meanwhile, they are holding an AR15.   In this industry you have to talk about what you know, and if you are wrong in your statements about tactical gear, especially on Blogs, Facebook or in a gun magazine, you’ll hear it.   Things have to seem real in a good action movie.  Ever see the 9mm gun brass on the ground during and after the Darth Vader entrance into Princess Leia’s ship?  What about all of the wrong caliber brass falling from Neo’s gun?   Now go find all the action movies where the SWAT Team all have their fingers on the trigger while they move in a stack.

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“That’s not a knife, That’s a knife”

tactical knivesThere are plenty of products in this industry that people won’t buy online once the product hits a certain price range.  All the product descriptions in the world aren’t comprehended by most customers because they usually need a dictionary to to reference to.   The designers in the product might be mentioned or a reference to another popular knife that our customers never heard of doesn’t really help them.    Knives often displayed in glass cases show of the finish, but the majority of shoppers are going to want to know how it feels in the hand.  It’s almost in the same category as gloves.   Handles and ambidextrous features make the difference because it’s yet another left hand vs right hand piece of tactical gear that left handed people are often blackballed over and find out the product wasn’t designed for theme.

Price ranges for most of the knifes from Spyderco, Kershaw,  Emerson and Columbia River Knife & Tool in the $50-$100 price range while others like Emerson are under $200.   There are lots of people in EMS industry that just want a utility knife or tactical knives  for under $50 and there are several knifes in this price range that go out the door with them.   The Timberline SOC Knife and the all of the plain edge and comb edge Vallotton spring assisted knives.  The majority of name brand knife manufacturers have good warranties so always keep that in mind and stick with the name brands.   Knife sharpeners especially the Gatco Sharpeners can be fun to use and will make you want to go in the kitchen and get your steak knifes ready for dinner.

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You get what you pay for and I’ll say it again

SFX300U-A-2We often get customers that want us to tell them what will work for them, “is this a quality item” we often get asked and if we sell it to them and there is a problem, it’ll come back on us.  It’s very rare that we will endorse a product and as a retail business in the tactical industry, we really can only give you options to choose from.   We listen to the operators that are using various optics and weapon mounted lights and they almost always can tell us where the Fail Point is with them.   There different levels of durability but no flashlight or electronic devices has a zero failure rate in all conditions.   I haven’t used Pelican flashlights but we hear good things about them, but for personal flashlights, CCW flashlights and different grades of weapon mounted lights, we narrow it doesn to Streamlight and Surefire flashlights.

Both manufacturers offer good warranties and we often hear of very good customer service from Streamlight.   The Streamlight Protac 2L far outsells the smaller Protac 1L for CCW but besides the Streamlight TLR1s flashlight, the Surefire flashlights get far fewer complaints on weapon mounted lights.  Many of our Law Enforcement and Firefighters are using the Streamlight flashlights while Pelican, Surefire and Streamlight lean more towards the Military preferences.   It’s not our call, it’s your call on what you want.   Stick with the name brand manufacturers and not the high lumen cheap Chinese knock off flashlights you see at Gun Shows for a good price.  People will laugh at you if they see NcStar on your M4.

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Magazine Capacity and Drama

MGMPI571BLK-2TOne of the biggest lies that goes around the anti-gun propaganda machine is with magazine capacity.   There is so much emotionalism when people hear “high capacity” like this is for something that is above the norm.    “Rate of fire” is another one that goes around the news networks and there is a very funny California Rep that made a royal jackass out of himself by falling victim to all of the outlandish and inaccurate specs for the AR15 SBR that he  was holding up.  Folks, Nuclear, Chemical and Biological weapons can do more damage to a civilization than the 1950’s designed AR15.  I personally believe that an AR15 is a better urban self defense weapon than any handgun and people are far less prone to accidents with rifles than they are with handguns.

Magpul inc. is going to go down in history as a patriotic company that was under assault by an overzealous Government and the blowback that occurred in Colorado against it’s Politicians, has been set in motion with the recalls and this November, you can expect more.   Probable the best balance for an AR15 are 20rd pmags, but the most common are the Magpul 30rd Pmags that seem to have become a staple for any AR15 owner.   I’ve checked out some Lancer products because many of our competition shooters use them, but Magpul Industries has so many good products it’s been hard to not keep expanding their product line.

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