All posts in Tactical Gear

First Aid, Medical Gear and Rescue gear, how close are you to it?

Rescue GearIt seems that in this industry, every time you buy something,  you have to buy something else to perfect it.  Just buying a first aid kit doesn’t cut it with me because even now, most of the first aid kits you see at Rite Aid or a neighborhood Drug Store isn’t going to have anything that relates to trauma, it’s mostly for people with boo boos, not lacerations, stabbings or gun show wounds.   If you don’t have any of the QuikClot, go out and atleast get the QuickClot Sport, if you are a gun owner, get the Combat Gauze and keep it in your car or in your range bag.   There are so many things to consider when putting together a medical bag,  but if you can afford it, there is every reason to keep some type of Go Bag with you at all times.    I have put together medical gear that stays in the family car, a medical box at home, one in my car and I also have a belt trama kit that goes in my tactical vest.

Sure you don’t need to have all of that stuff in 4 different locations, but in this day and age, it’s real easy to be the person that “can handle it” if you are faced with some type of emergency response.   Kids get hit by cars, dogs bite people,  lawn mower accidents occur and the most common thing are car accidents.   You should always have some type of glass break device in your vehicle and a knife that you know can cut a seat belt.   I’m more prone to want partially serrated knives since cutting through rope or seat belts often needs sawing.   If you don’t have a tourniquet, atleast always know that something like a belt can also work to some degree.   Also consider having rescue gear that applies to both Summer Hot weather or Winter wear.   Emergency Blankets are so inexpensive that keeping a few in the back of your car, especially if you have kids, is something  you may need if your car broke down in temperatures like we had in the Winter of 2014.   Consider some type of portable water filtration unit like some of the Camelback products so even if you don’t have water, if you can find it, you can drink it safely without having to haul large quantities around.

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511 Tactical Footwear, Brand Names and Picking the best

511 Tactical BootsOne thing about our product  line is that we never get caught  up with “this brand is better than another” so much of the tactical clothing and tactical gear world is getting what you paid for.   When it comes to comfort, it’s up to our customer to determine what works best for them.   Here in the Pennsylvania area we get all 4 Seasons, Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring so you need to switch up your clothing at some point.   This year was particularly harsh as far as winter goes and we added a few things to our “winter clothing” category and expecting our 5.11 Socks to include the heavier winter items.  5.11 Tactical is a monster of a company and and is hands down the best known product line and basically because they started it all.   There are a lot of Pros and Cons of every product we sell and we often pick the best products from 5.11 and leave the flashlights and Novelty stuff to the big 5.11 showcase dealers but there are plenty of 5.11 backpacks and gear that has a strong grip of the Emergency Management and Law Enforcement Market.

Like shorts and  pants, footwear needs to change up with the seasons and we’ve had a lot of people come in here asking us to carry some of the Taclite gear in the 5.11 Tactical product line and recently expanded the 511 Tactical Boots in our product line.   We hear a lot of the same stories from brand to brand like ” I don’t like those boots, they fall apart on me” or “they just weren’t comfortable.”   Comfort is your decision and if you have the same problems with a certain boot style or brand, consider  spending more money if you want years of durability.   So much of this can depend on what your work and footwear stress levels are, but here are some of the new products we are carrying online and in our Pennsylvania Tactical Store.

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Snap Caps, what’s the whole purpose ? Dry Firing? Clearing Malfunctions?

Snap CapsWell, I’ll tell you I don’t see too many directions on the packages and people ask us all the time about them, but I personally find them to be an excellent tool for doing malfunction drills.   Sometimes you can just take an empty shell and put it  in the chamber so it looks like a stove pipe, but I find it to be better training to actually allow your firearm to close on a dead round, recognize the gun won’t fire by hearing a click, and then just run through the “tap, rack, fire.”  It’s an excellent way to teach people to clear malfunctions.  I have never allowed someone I taught, to carry a firearm until they learned to clear malfunctions.   My reasoning is this, I have often seen less experiences shooters to be prone to limp wristing and because they probable have not trained under stress, they are more likely to see a malfunction which could mean having their gun taken from them or not being able to defend themselves.   Also, it’s very common for people to not load their firearms properly in the first place.

Snap caps are available from 17HMR to 22 Caliber and all of the major handgun calibers from .380 snap caps, 38 Special Snap caps, 9mm-45acp Snap caps.   I’ve found the 38 Special and revolver calibers to be excellent training accessories for practicing with speed loaders.  If you are taking a shotgun course, you can safely practice all of the loading and unloading skills.   I would personally recommend Snap Caps over some of the cheap plastic dummy rounds because these aluminum bullets won’t fall apart and put plastic shards in the mechanical parts of your firearm, one of the major reasons I stopped reloading lead bullets was even though they were cheap, I had to practically use a tooth pick to get all of it out, and that one little piece of plastic from a cheaper dummy round could end up in a trigger mechanism or in the action and cause a malfunction.

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Agilite Gear a different way of doing it, magazine pouches and Hi-Vest

Agilite GearAgilite Hi-VestsWe’ve been eye balling the Agilite Gear product line for more than a year and at this stage of our business model, we don’t want to carry everthing because there is plenty of crap gear out there, and if you sell crap, a certain percentage of your customers are going to come back to the retailer and either want a refund or you’ll end up dealing with warranty issues or disappointed customers.   You get what you pay for in this industry and you need to know that before you make a purchase and the other major concern is know what something is used for and if you are going to be using the gear that can achiever your goals.    Standing in line at a IDPA match a few months ago I saw people compete with firearms that they knew nothing about but just shot the match anyway.   You can practice self defense when shooting IDPA but if you haven’t had much experience shooting different guns, how will  you know if you are even capable of shooting your best?   Trigger pulls andd sight radius are going to help you out big time and if you cut yourself short.

The Agilite Hi-vest was the first thing that caught my eye when looking over their product line because they are very much up to date on Multicam and A-Tacs pattern nylon gear.   In the United States most of the Police Departments we deal with are looking for outer carrier vests because as a police officer, your job is to serve and protect, and not look like an Army Soldier unless a SWAT call out is made or you are Patrolman that gets called to an active shooter situation.   The Agilite Gear Hi-vest is something that probable isn’t what Law Enforcement are normally going to do but we have several Border Patrol Personnel wearing these that have given us positive feedback.   Their Agilite Advanced Magazine Pouch is very different than most of the triple mag pouches we’ve sold due to the fact the 3 magazines would be stacked going forward and not across a tactical vest which really is smart because it leaves more space on a Molle system.   The first time I tried out the Agilite Hi-Vests it fell like I was being locked into some type of safety harness because it is extremely comfortable and since it is designed to sit high on the chest, you can easily access gear without having to look down and your ability to move your upper body around corners is not restricted.  The Agilite Hi-Vest is sold with and without the AMAP (Attaching Modular Assault Pack) which I personel didn’t feel I needed at the moment but you can also buy it separately later if need be.    This would be a very cool vest for a Contagion event also.

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Gunvault Safes better to lock them up and find a better hiding place

Gunvault SafesWe are always paying attention to the crime statistics and asking our local police departments what the stories really are.   Things like Home invasions are typically retaliation for someone in the family losing drug money or something else along those lines.   For a small percentage of the home invasions where there was no determinable reason for it other than robbery or rape, there are still reasons to make sure you avoid letting people know what you own and for God’s sake, close your windows at night and don’t announce to every person walking by your home at night on where the fine China is.   The same thing goes with who you let into your house and who knows where you keep your firearms.   Like most people the closet is where the guns and gunvault safes are but you might want to consider throwing a sweater or towel over the safe when it’s in there.  Most home invasions are during the day when  you won’t be home and even if you have an alarm system, the master bedroom is where they most likely will go.

There are pros and cons to any locking system, yes, it can slow you down by a small fraction of time, but kids can get into even gun safes if you give them enough time or have it in a location they can keep guessing the combination.   There are various alarm settings and lockout options for Gunvault Safes but if you are a home owner, I’d highly recommend putting some creativity into using furniture, picture frames or some other concealment for your safes.  If you are like me and walking in and out of Government Buildings all the time or high security zones, sometimes even outside a Police Station isn’t the best place to leave a gun under a car seat, smash and grabs take a few seconds and if they can’t break a window and lift it out, they probable won’t get it.  Locking cables are a really good idea to attach to your gun safe.   Expect to see a lot of gunvault safes in our stores in the coming months because not enough people are locking up their firearms.

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The Magpul MS3 and MS4 Slings and other Magpul Accessories

Magpul AccessoriesWe are often confronted with questions but many of our customers are not prepared to have us question them back before we can answer them.   Working in the Fire Industry, Emergency Services and Law Enforcmenent can be very technical when it comes to uniforms and gear and we often find that even our customers don’t know what a product is called, just what it looks like and what it’s fire.   Recently we got asked about pager holders but until the customer came in our store and measured the pager, we wouldn’t have known which holder to order for them.    The same type of thing occurs when people are shopping for a gun case, the barrel length of your AR15 is not going to determine what gun case it’s going to fit it, the overall length of the gun is.   If you are looking for a handguard like the Magpul MOE in black, flat dark earth, Foliage or OD Green, you need to know if you have a rifle length, carbine length, or mid length.  It only takes a second to measure your handguard before you want to replace it but we are often faced with the “I don’t know” when they ask us if we carry handguards.

When it comes to slings, unless you really know what  you are looking for, I wouldn’t be so worried about buying the wrong one, if you get a sling that you don’t like, replacing attachment plates or RSA Rail Attachments are only a $10-$15 trial run but it’s always best to go to the range and try somebody elses setup.  If you are ready to take a trip to Rogue Elite Tactical for Magpul Accessories for a sling or a gun case, do yourself a favor and get the specs on all of your AR15 Carbines that you are looking to equip, do you have a gas block?  When length handguard length do you want?  The iron sights you might want on your gun might not be right and you might find out at the wrong time that you purchased the wrong rifle stocks or accessories.  We have been highly recommending the Magpul MS3 slings because so many people are not sure if they want a single point sling or a 2 point sling and since the MS3 can do both, and has a quick adjustment loop, this really is the best of both worlds.  If you want the quick detach MS4 Sling, you’ll have to make sure you have those attachment points on  your stock, receiver, or handguard.  Let us know what you have and we’ll tell you what you can do.

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Columbia River Knife & Tool Company M16 Knives

Columbia River Knife and Tool CompanyOne of those niche products in our inventory that we always try and keep around are the CRKT or “Cricket” as some call them, M16 series knives.   We have a diverse Emergency Management customer base, some folks want the first cheap knife they can get to carry around in their pocket at work, and others are very particular about the blades they are using.  Hand size is also a factor because if you want to be effective with a knife it has to fit your hand otherwise you might not get the leverage you need while trying to cut a seat belt or rope and that isn’t a good thing if you are under stress or possible injured.   Many people in this industry are using knives for rescue and utility, far more than they are carrying them for self defense.   I’m partial to combo edged blades but not as concerned about and point like tanto ect.

I am presently carrying a M16-13Z  Carson Design which fits my hand perfectly and considering how impressed I was with the blade edge it came from the factory, and going on more than a year with heavy useage, I’ve only sharpened the knife 2 times and pretty much just for fun and not because it was getting dull.   The Columbia River Knife and Tool Company M16 series locking knives are big sellers and starting in the mid $30 range up to $100 will give you a lot of selections to consider.   A knife like this is perfect for many in our line of work but the only negatives are that you have to do a lot of practicing to get the safety on the blade and locking liner open with one hand but there are real reasons it’s a good idea to have a safety on any hard use folding knife.   The negative I found with the M16 product line are the belt clip holders screws which don’t want to stay screwed in so make sure you use lock tite on them if they happen to come loose on you.

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Are your knives sharp? Most suggested answer to “what should I use to sharpen my knife” are the Gatco Knife Sharpening Systems

Knife Sharpening KitsI was lucky enough to work the NRA Show at Pittsburgh with the guys from Great American Knife & Tool Company and got to witness first hand the number of people walking by the table that were carrying dull knives.   People tend to shop for a knife based on it’s size and what they think they need it for, but many people don’t understand how knifes are sharpened or how to put an edge on a blade.   I’m in no way an knife expert, and in all honesty, I’m not that interested in knowing everything there is to know about knifes, but the one thing I do know how to do is sharpen a knife.  I’ve other sharpening 2 stone pocket sharpening kits as well as a sharpening stone, but none of them worked as fast as the Gatco Sharpening System and with the 10005 which is a 4 stone sharpening kit plus a serration sharpening stone, this is by far the best kit if you ever want to bring a serrated edge back to life.

Sure the quality of whatever knife you are sharpening is going to hold an edge above or below average but I’ve done enough cutting for shipping and handling packages to know when knives are losing their edge and can easily tell which one is holding up.    There are tons of people that are carrying flashlights and knives on them but if you aren’t using it all the time, you might want to check to make sure that its still got an edge on it.   In emergency situations like cutting seatbelts or rope, you don’t want to spend more time than you need trying to free yourself or someone else in harms way.   For around $30-$40 you getting knife sharpening kits that also work very fast and you won’t spend all day sitting next to a camp fire doing it the old fashion way.  There are replacement stones you can buy if you break or wear something out and Gatco like many of the other products we sell have outstanding Warranties on their products.

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If you go to a firing range or own a gun, you must have First Aid and Medical Supplies with you

Combat GauzeWe have a lot of range bags to pick from but the number one thing I say to someone ordering one online or in our Showroom after picking one out is “don’t forget about medical supplies”.   We have plenty of Combat Medical Instructors coming into our store that who us how they pack their bags and about all of the features various bags from Voodoo Tactical, Elite Survival Systems, 5.11 Tactical and Condor and all of them have their pros and cons, but “The Mission Drives the Gear” so it really comes down to preferences.   Anyone that steps foot on a firing line should always know who and where medical kits are and since there have been so many major advancements in medical supplies, just having a box with band aids and gauze is not tolerable.   I was recently shown video of a kid that got hit by a car and how even after a tournequet was applied, there was still bleeding that needed to be stopped and the technician had to use Quickclot.  Between the cost of the various Sport Medical Supplies and a Swat T Tourniquet, your talking about $30 on up, how much of a joke is that to not justify putting that in your range bag,  your car, and in your home.

I’ve had enough life experience to keep supplies in all of the previously mentioned locations because I’ve been in my home where I’ve had people knock on my door and tell me a kid was in a bad bike accident (no car involved just a single bike accident) to date its the worst bleed out I’ve ever seen.   The kids ankle was sliced open when he lost his footing and the pedal slid up the side.   When you move up to the Z-Medica Combat Gauze, your starting at about $44 for the smaller packs but can watch one minute of Youtube and see how to use a Tourniquet and Combat Gauze.   The next time you pickup a gun case, range bag, tactical vest or firearm accessory, make sure you put some thought into upgrading your first aid and survival gear because the more you are around firearms, statistically speaking, the more likely you are going to witness an accident and if you look at all of the training events, Carbine Courses, you’ll see that they do, which is also another good reason to always be wearing body armor while on the firing range.  Also, you might want to check out Doc Spears Combat Lifesaver DVD that we sell.

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Visibility, Blindspots, Proficiency and the Smith Optics Elite Pivlock

Smith Elite PivlocksSometimes people get sticker shock when they see some of the prices on ballistic eyewear, but we always have to remind people this is insurance for the “what ifs” that can and do happen.   There are many combat veterans that are coming back with damage to their eyes due to fragmentation that occurs when bullets fly and bombs go off.   In the real world, a small fragment of rock or metal is all it takes to alter your life and wearing cheap stuff to the range that people use for weed wacking.   I actually ran  into some local customers recently that were wearing Smith Optics Elite Sunglasses on a Sunday trip to the local hardware depot because they were wearing them while doing lawn mowing and yard work, that’s getting your moneys worth!

In the real world of Law Enforcement, shooting ranges, and Military Operations, there are a lot of issues with fogging with eyewear from ballistic goggles, to Eyeshields.   In extremely active situations that is something that can as does occur and I have reports from many of the S.W.A.T Teams that operated during the aftermath of the Boston Bombings that had major complaints about moving from exterior to interior situations and ended up throwing there goggles off because they couldn’t operated proficiently indoors with the eyewear on.   Goggles can be very clunky and also have a lot of blind spots due to the frames being so large so the reality is that ballistic protection with high visibility is really the best thing to look for.  The new Smith Elite Pivlock has two lense sizes, the Pivlock V2 and the Pivlock V2 Max, check out the Youtube.com video attached to the product to see how easily the lense interchange and the lense and kit options.

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