All posts in Tactical Gear

Paddle holsters vs. OWB holsters

There have been several occasions where I have had to sit down and re-read all of the various holsters designs being made from the major manufacturers to read about any chances or variations that have been made.   Last year we saw a big increase in people buying .380 guns and not very many holsters were being made for it yet.   There are also things like lasers that come into play and that limits the types of holsters you can use even more.   I expect that since the Ruger LCR and LCP have been given a good reception in the gun industry that next year will be easier to find more options.   I still not on the .380 bandwagon, but if that’s what people want to carry, any gun is better than no gun.

I changed some of my work week carry methods after hobbling around with sore spots from the times I had to do a lot of lifting and working with my CCW gun and I have recently switched up some of my holster and carry methods to give my body a break.   For anyone that is actually carrying 7 days a week and does a lot of physical work, IWB with a medium or large size gun will catch up with you.  I  have found that the Galco holsters that are OWB holsters, that you have to put a belt through don’t work very for me because there are times during the day that I do have to take my gun off because I am going through various buildings with high security measures and it’s annoying to have to practically undress in a car each time.   One thing I throw into my CCW mix is a good Galco paddle holster like the Havana.

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Reducing the chances of slipping and falling

I am not in the military and have never served in Law Enforcement so much of what I may be discussing has already been put into the minds of those that have trained for street work.   There has been a change in our modern culture, I guess it’s partially from the changes that took place after September 11, 2001.   More Americans are being issued gun permits than ever before due to the potential threats of terrorism and an increase in crime due to the bad economy.   The tactical clothing market has been growing every year and there are even some small business that are only putting out pants and shirts for white collar CCW holders.   I’ll leave it up to another time to discuss the clothing, but white collar CCW is the pinnacle of concealed carry.

When I think of the number of times I had to carry a gun in an ankle holster or pocket holster for a wedding, the one thing that I always felt uncomfortable about was that the shoes I had to wear were difficult to run in and very easy to slide in.  I must admit that I along with many of my friends do not pick out our own clothing for these types of events and our wives are very picky about what kind of shirts and shoes we are wearing.  Most of the Original Swat tactical footwear is made for Law Enforcement applications, but I would highly recommend the Oxford shoes for anyone in the white collar CCW arena.   These shoes will look like dress shoes with superior traction.

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Having fun but having the right stuff

I would have to say that the vast majority of those that have anything more than a flashlight and optic on the M4 are probable putting something on our guns that we really don’t need, but just enjoy having on.   There’s nothing wrong with having an LWRCI upper with a quad rail or a MidWest quad rail if you think you can put it to use, but when we actually have to carry the Carbine for any real length of time, we’ll wish we could strip a few extra pounds of weight off the gun.  Many of our Staff have been attending competition shoots lately that have been really well run.   These events are everything from battle scenarios or even Zombie shoots.

Last  year in Pennsylvania we attended a Carbine shoot where the the attendees has to sign in at 8am and once they left the club house, they couldn’t drop off any gear and had to lug it all with them for the day.   All of the competitors were carrying M4 or AR15 variants and a few had AK rifles.    Ammunition loads were approximately 400rds of rifle and 100rds of handgun ammo.    I enjoy these events because we get too see some real hard use of tactical gear and tactical accessories.   We tend to not see things fail at these shoots because the competitors are in the higher class as far as skill and the types of firearms they use.   If you ever want to see what kind of optics work and which firearms and when things jam, go to a competition shoot at your gun club and sit back and watch.

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Shoulder holsters being banned from Defensive training?

I first heard about this 3 years ago when I was taking a class, and I’m glad I didn’t bring my Uncle Mike’s vertical holster with me when I was taking the class, but it really wasn’t that style that was an issue.   Understandable so,  shoulder holsters, if not properly used, can be a hazzard to people behind the firing line, especially if it is a vertical rig.   Everyone seems to think of the Galco holster The Miami Classic when they think of that style of carry, but not all holsters are like that.   They look cool, but standing next to several people with that style of carry isn’t going to  be safe when everyone is holstering and un-holstering.

I do not think that shoulder holsters are less safe, and I personally think they are very practical for people that do a lot of driving, and it’s one of my favorite ways to carry a large size semi-auto.   Paddle holsters and OWB holsters are hard to draw from in the seat position and Bulldog holsters along with Uncle Mikes make very inexpensive holster rigs.  The Bulldog holsters have a double magazine pouch which gives you a little bit more weight distribution.   Shoulder holsters aren’t the best for CCW because the straps can ride up on you, but if you wear the appropriate clothing they can work.

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Options other than paddle holsters

I think the real question that some people need to think about when they are going to take a firearm to a Carbine course is to take some serious thought into what kind of retention they want.   I have never seen a firearm come out of a Fobus holster on the firing line, but I have seen gun magazines pop out of that type of magazine holder.    Blackhawk makes a better magazine holder due to the fact that there is actually tension on the mag in the holder.   If you are carrying an M4 around, and you need a sidearm, I strongly recommend you have a holster that has a thumb break or a Blackhawk Serpa type of holster.

One other suggestion I have because I have a pile of these types of holsters is the Uncle Mikes hip holsters.    I have a few that have a magazine holster right in front of the gun holster which is a nice way to carry a backup mag, you always know where it is in relation to the gun, and if you are carrying a lot of gear, it’s nice to keep the spare mag next to the spare gun.   I have some of Uncle Mikes  holsters that are leg holsters, hip holsters and should holsters.   There have been a few modifications they have made to the shoulder holsters which in my opinion were an improvement.   The magazine holders are now on the opposite side of the holster and you don’t have to carry them separately.

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Glocks and IWB carry

Maybe I’m not that experienced with carrying Glocks for concealed carry, but I often find them to be more comfortable being carried in a leg holster or paddle  holster.   The same goes for revolvers, I rarely see people carry any type of revolver in a holster.   Peoples tolerances for carrying can drastically vary due to body sizes.   When I got serious about moving away from a Taurus T85 38 Special and was looking for a durable semi-auto with more punch, but not much larger, I came to the conclusion that it was either the Glock 26 9mm or a Sig 239.  The Sig 239 won out because it was slightly thinner, but not really a lighter gun.

When you are deciding on a firearm, don’t worry about the weight of the gun.   If you get a good gun belt you shouldn’t notice weight as much as you will notice the size of the barrel.   I still find the 1911 to be one of the most comfortable guns to carry because it has such a thing frame and is balanced very well, but my Wilderness 5 stitch instructor belt supported it so well I couldn’t tell the difference between my Sig 239 and a 45acp full size 1911.  I tried on various Don Hume holsters, Galco holsters and Bianchi and found the Don Hume and Galco had a lot of good options.   It’s good to find a dealer that has  a return policy where you can try it out in your own home and then return it if you have any issues with the fit.

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Wilson Combat range tests

This past weekend I got to take my 1911 collection to the range along with a friend and family member that all brought their 1911 handguns.    The real test I wanted to conduct is to see which magazines would all fall free from the guns when the magazine release was pressed and how reliable the guns were.    It still amazes me that the number of people with AR15 rifle or 1911 handguns that are not using the best on the market with their guns, even though they carry them or use them for self defense.   I have strongly felt that Magpul P-mags should replace every GI magazine in your inventory and I’m waiting to see if anyone comes out with handgun magazines as durable.   I believe it is coming.

Wilson Combat magazines have been my favorite every since my first and only bad reliability range day with my Colt 1991A1.    The second range trip with my Colt wasn’t very good because I had the same issue with the gun closing on an empty chamber.  In a defensive situation, this is as bad as the gun stove piping.  You will still have to manually cycle the gun to load it and you will even have to change the magazine out.   Get Wilson Combat magazines and avoid the problem and toss your USGI magazines or move them to plinking malfunction drill range trips.    Chip McCormick magazines are a close second place for me, but Wilson Combat has a good selection of gun accessories for your 1911 if you want to take a look.

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Ruger 10/22 range day and scope options

I’m brainstorming with this blog post so give me some of your advice if you have any on what to put on my Ruger 10/22 rifle.   This is a standard 10/22 and not a tricked out barrel or trigger.   I purchased all of my 22lr for new shooters to learn on and didn’t want to get too fancy with optics in the beginning.   After picking up a Marlin Model 980 bolt action and having the rear sight replaced with an adjustable elevation like the standard 10/22,  I haven’t had the urge to buy another optic for this gun.   Many bolt actions are capable of shooting quarter size groups at 100yds with the right kind of ammo, but even though my bolt action has that capability, I still wanted it for novice introduction to firearms.

My ruger 10/22 was a training gun, but after recently doing some aggressive testing between the two, there was no comparison in accuracy.   The bolt action was shooting dime size groups at 50ft and the Ruger was shooting 2 inch groups with the same ammo.   I’m thinking about picking up a rifle scope for this gun that is either a fixed power or a red dot.   I have a Butler Creek 25 round magazine that I have yet to test out, but it could be a good close quarters combat training tool for wiping out soda cans and other carbonated reactive targets.   I had an Eotech 552 on a Ruger Mini 14 and had fun with it, but went back to a 3-9x40mm scope because it just seemed more practical.

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Magpul DVD review

I am almost all the way through the entire Magpul DVD collection.    After several years of being on the firing range as a student and an instructor, I have often been asked if I know about any good DVDs for training.   I started out watching The Art of the tactical Carbine Volume I over a year ago and finished off Volume II about 6 months ago.   I thought the volume of info and the length of the DVDs to be very well worth the amount of money I spent, I was really impressed with how much time there was.    I would recommend these DVDs to beginners even though I do not think they are novice level training.  There are some basics in this, but the application of advanced basics is in there.

The Magpul Aerial Platform DVD was in my opinion more for the History Channel than it was for the gun owner, but I would get this one last over the other three Volumes.     The Art of the dynamic handgun is by far the best bang for the buck.   Clint Smith has some very well produced DVDS but they were expensive and I thought they could have been more informative.   I give them to family members that are new to firearms, but the Magpul dvds were in my opinion a step up.   I haven’t been to Thunder Ranch, but I intend to do so some day due to it’s great reputation, but I think The folks at Magpul owe me some more defensive training DVDs.

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5.11 tactical jeans review pt 1

I finally did my rounds and checked out a few local 5.11 dealers to see what they had in stock.    Something I always find annoying about stopping in these places is how much of a mess the clothing usually is.   I always have to dig around for my sizes and rarely do any of these gun shops or police and security stores keep there crap together.   The other thing that I find annoying is that so many of them clear out certain styles of clothing during the year like there is a non-season for polos and jeans.   Some of these tactical clothing manufacturers are running huge shortages and various products are out of stock for 6-9 months at a time.   I actually noticed many of the gun shops in my neck of the woods stopped selling 5.11 tactical pants because it was too much of a headache for them to deal with.

It was time to restock my tactical pants inventory and I’m not prone to sticking to only one manufacturer.   I have worn 5.11 tactical pants, Eotac, Woolrich Elite and even SigTac.   Each tactical clothing company and tactical gear manufacturer has it’s pros and cons,  but I’d give Eotac and Woolrich Elite the edge on quality control.     I am comparing the Eotac 205 concealed carry jeans to the 5.11 jeans and there is no comparison.   I feel a difference in the movement of each jean, but I really don’t think I feel restricted in any way.   They are both well made, but there are huge differences in the designs.   The Eotac jeans are very similar to the Woolrich Elite Discreet MKII pants, but they are definitely not the same.   The 5.11 jeans are what I’d call more for deep concealment.   There are internal pockets that can hold a j-frame revolver or a small semi-auto and a few spare magazines.   I find the pockets to be a  little too deep and don’t really like the fact the guns are practically inside the pants.   I tried putting a Sig 239 in the pockets with spare magazines and it was extremely uncomfortable when sitting down, so I would have to say you need something smaller than that.

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