All posts in Tactical Gear

Shoot N-C Targets, are they worth it?

Shoot N C TargetsIt depends on what you are doing with your firearm but I know plenty of people that don’t spend a dime on targets and just print stuff off their computers.   It’s not hard to take a piece of paper and a ruler and just make a 1 inch square or trace a quarter to get a circle, but once you get out at longer ranges, trying to tell if you got a hit or a miss is very difficult.    It’s kind of funny how everything seems to be trending toward green lasers and green sights and reticles, but Shoot N C targets have been around for a long time and when you get a hit, you know you got a hit because that greenish yellow outline really helps you identify your point of impact.   Sure you can bore sight your rifle but you have to know how to bore sight something properly and if you’re scope is not mounted correctly, zeroing in your scope isn’t going to help you when you change distances.

Shoot N C targets come in several shapes and sizes and it’s probable best you start out with the larger ones and make use of those smaller black stickers to cover the holes so you get the most use out of them.   This week we’ll be doing some promos with 6″ shoot n c targets but you really will have more fun and probable not need a spotting scope if you are shooting at 100yds or less at one of these.   It’s probable a good idea to always bring a back stop with you that you can attach these stickers to, although I’ve had mostly good experiences with them sticking to rifle range back stops, sometimes the back stops were dirty and stickers didn’t stick so well.  Avoid the situation where you get back behind the firing line and watch one of your targets peel off and end up having to wait for the next cease fire to fix it.

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Get a good belt before you ruin one of the ones you have, here are some options!

Gun BeltsIt’s amazing how many types of belts there are in this industry, just discussing the differences between leather belts and nylon belts from manufacturer to manufacturer can be dramatic if you pay attention.   Our large customer base may or may not drop the money on a belt just based on price points and others “have to look” exactly the way the want because it’s a dress code.   We’ve done well with Desantis Leather belts, but even though we’ve sold a ton of the Blackhawk CQC Pistol belts, we have witness some manufacturing flaws that can happen.   For about $35 the price seems right for customers but you have to watch how you break those gun belts in because there is a well known flaw in the Black Plain finish where if you bend them too much, they can crack.  Luckily Blackhawk has good customer service and a good Warranty Policy but we  have had to send some of their pistol belts back, it is just the plain black finish, none of the brown or gator finish have been sent back.

The next most popular belts are the Elite Survival Systems Cobra Belts and if you want to know what the Cobra Belt is all about, check out some of the reviews online because it’s belt with features and if you want they, then buy it, if not, then there are various plastic or metal belts with different ways of being latched or snapped in so it’s another reason to stop in our tactical store and check out the various gun belts or duty belts for yourself because it’s another one of those things that is hard to explain and easier to comprehend when  you can hold it in your hands.   Rescue belts like the Elite Survival Assault Rescue belt might be an overkill for you but it also might be exactly what you need if you are in the line of work you might need to repel down a hill and pull a person back up.

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What you need to know when you need Ballistic Eyewear

Ballistic EyewearThere are plenty of brands out there to choose from, WileyX, ESS Eyewear, and Revision Eyewear, Smith Optics jumped into the fold with the Smith Elite Military and Law Enforcement products but just like clothing, shirts, vests, pants and footwear, everyone is different and it’s so hard to know to get unless you can walk into a store and try them on.    If you are not on a SWAT Team and do  not have to wear full coverage googles, the Smith Elite Sunglasses are worth checking out.   If you notice in many of the Iraq and Afghanistan photos of our soldiers, many of them are wearing eyewear and the smart ones are wearing ballistic sunglasses.  The standard you want to check on any eyewear for ballistic protection is Ansi Z87 ratings, according to Smith Optics their sunglasses exceed that rating.   There are plenty of horror stories of IED’s going off and people losing an eye 100yds away due to fragmentation.  If you have ever been to a firing range and had to sight in a rifle and hit below a target, you would see fragments of dirt and rock and possible a bullet key-holing, so you can see how much material that can cause damage just from one bullet.

Goggles are somewhat of an annoying thing to me and I’d avoid using them in most situations because the protection they give is higher than sunglasses but they tend to fog up under stressful situations and trying to keep that much of the glass scratch free and smudge free so that  your vision is not inhibited is a hard thing to do.  One major selling point I’d made with the Smith Elite ballistic eyewear is that it it is hands down the easiest to clean compared to other eyewear.   I’ve had some of the Edge Eyewear in my rotation and although they have some cool flexibility and anti-fog abilities,  whenever I got a smudge on them they were not easy to wipe off at the firing range when all of my Smith Optics Elite eyewear wiped perfectly clean with the Smudge Buster rag that Smith Elite sells.

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Why deviate from Surefire and Streamlight Flashlights? Warranties are important when investing your money in them

Surefire FlashlightsWe learned several years ago that the reason so many of your Police and Military customers are buying Streamlight and Surefire flashlights was because of the Warranty services that they offer.   When you are shopping for a flashlight,  you really need to pay attention to all of the product features, and not just what the run time and output is.   We’ve had several customers tell us they stick with Surefire handheld lights because the screw on cap battery contacts have a better longevity that some of the click-able flashlights.  I have to admit that I have seen this but this is after years and years of use.   Just like firearms all have barrel life, not everyone is going to put 15,000 rounds through a barrel and wish they got a barrel that lasted 25,000 rounds.  LED has been a great improvement for people that need a flashlight for work, so battery usage has been decreasing, but durability is something you have to pay for and many of the none name brand flashlights may put out some ridiculously high lumens but they just won’t last.

The Surefire G2 has many products in it’s family and we can’t say it enough, pay attention to production dates when you are shopping for any of the Surefire products because they all increased in their output by about 90% in the last 2yrs and people are still cleaning out old inventory.   Some of the G2 Flashlights out there are in the 130-150 Lumen range when they all should be 320 Lumens if they are the new ones.   The Beauty of the Surefire flashlight line is what you are using for a handheld light can easily be attached to a shotgun or carbine  if you pick up the proper mount.   I’ve always felt that 200 Lumens was about an ideal output for any weapon mounted light and now, even the Surefire Scout M300 is a 200 Lumen light, not the 110 that it use to be.   You are getting more from your money than you would have 2yrs ago sure check out all of what they have to offer.

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Why are smaller optics more money? Eotech Sights and Aimpoint

Eotech SightsWell, the short answer is because it take more manufacturing know how to get all of those electronic down to a durable and reliable combat optic and the benefits of having a reliable and lighterweight optic can improve performance of an operator.    Sticker shock is always something that people have when they come in here and check out the pricing on Trijicon Optics like the RMR sights because they think that a small optic would be cheaper than a hunting or sniper scope.  Although the expensive stuff like Night Force and Leupold seem to be acceptable, paying $700 for a red dot like an Aimpoint T1 seem to be frowned on except for the people that are using them.  If you just pickup a scale and put down a Trijicon TA01NSN and compare it to an Eotech EXPS2-0 or the Aimpoint T1, you’ll seem there is a considerable weight difference and knocking off a pound of weight from your firearm and carrying more food, water, or ammo is far more important considering that Military Statistics show that most engagements are under 200yds and needing larger “reach out and touch someone” optics rarely occurs and normally there is a designated marksmen in a unit for that role with a different optic.

We really don’t have an option as to what is better, Aimpoint or Eotech, but you can’t beat the pricing and reliability of the Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optics that comes with its standard mounting system.   We have picked up Bobro Engineering mounts for quick detach capabilities for some of the Aimpoint Optics, but there are those options with the Eotech Sights.   With Aimpoint you have night vision optics, with Eotech Combat Optics for your AR15 or M4 variant, you’ll need to know ahead of time and purchase a night vision compatible version of the sight.   Think about which type of batteries you want to have around whether you decide on CR123 batteries or AA Batteries, make sure you have storage units on your person, in your go bag, or on the AR15 Accessories like the pistol grip, stock extension ect and keep a few new condition batteries there.

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Things to think about when looking for a bipod, weight and length need to be known

Grip PodHarris BipodsPlenty of people think they want a bipod but you’ll find out real fast if you got the wrong one when  you go hunting or go to the range and it’s too short or too long for your shooting position.   Harris Bipods are probable the best starting point because there are plenty of options but you will need to think about how you are going to attach it your rifle or carbine, whether you want one that cants or swivels, and also be aware that you are adding weight to your gun and it’s going to be heavier.  I started out with a few Harris bipods on my 22 Magnum rifle and ended up switching one off an SKS rifle because it was able to be folded up and had a better length than the one I started out with.   My DSA STG FAL came with a cool folding bipod but I found out later on that the way it attached to the barrel, actually affected the barrel harmonics and I could see that the gun would start to string bullets after a few rounds and dramatically deteriorate the groups.

There are plenty of bipods to look at in the $100 price range but it can jump way  up from their if you want features like canting and swiveling.   Once you get some experience at shooting prone, shooting behind barriers  good bipods will be another tool to help you get in a good firing position and reduce stress, especially if you have a heavy barrel rifle.   Many of  our Law Enforcement go with the GPS Grip Pod which can be available in a polymer or metal and there are considerable weight differences between each, this quick deployment is really meant for firing over a vehicle or behind a barricade but it does have the ability to just become a fore grip if you don’t need the legs deployed.

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What size Gunvault Gun Safe should you buy and what are you really going to be putting in it?

Gunvault Gun SafesOne of the items people really want to see in their hands instead of ordering it online are the Gunvault Gun safes.    You can give people all the measurements and specs but it still doesn’t mean anything to them because all they know about their handguns are the barrel lengths and hardly anyone knows the over all length and how certain guns are going to fit in them.   “Will a Springfield XD and Glock 19 with a flashlight fit in this gun safe” are questions we often get asked.    It’s usually better to go with a large safe than a smaller one and placement of a safe in your closet or wherever and knowing  you can bolt it down is also very important.   The real reason to lock you stuff up is preventing Children from having access to them and making it difficult for someone to pull a smash and grab and walk out your door with your firearms because you left them in a dresser.     There is a drawervault that you can consider if your dresser drawer is where you want to put your gun but I’m not the biggest fan of putting a gun there because it’s one of the first places criminal look for valuables.

I’ve heard about all of  the gun safe breaches that can occur and if you give a criminal too much time, they’ll be able to get into any safe, but hiding the gunsafe in a closet and making sure it’s covered with clothing or a towel is also a good way to make a fast moving criminal glance over it and not see anything but a pile of clothing.     You can use most of these saves in a car if you need to but the Microvault is probable the most popular since most people are only putting 1 handgun in the safe because they have to go  in and out of buildings with metal detectors or places where carrying in prohibited.   The Gunvault Gun Safes that I usually suggest people getting are the standard or deluxe Multivaults because even though you want to lock up your firearms, there are plenty of other things you might want to consider putting in the safe like jewelry, gun magazines or various important documents and these safes can run out of room real fast.

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There were Movies about Cops and Robbers and now, Bad guys are Chemists

Trijicon ACOGSSure thinks like Opium, Ayahuasca and Marijuana have been for a long, long time, and they are very well embedded into different cultures, for Religious experious, cultural rituals or just because it feels good and a society has accepted it.  You can always weight the tolerances on morality and different belief systems but in America, sometimes its just because people want the experience.   There is a certain point people have to make decisions for themselves and from an adult/parent point of view, I hope none of my kids are dumb enough to take something off the street that manufactured by somebody working in a lab out of their basement.  The reality of what goes on at Certain Colleges, especially the whole “Rave” thing is almost a survival of the fittest and from a Law Enforcement point of view it’s extremely disturbing to see these young beautiful women caving in to this environment and after talking to so many in Emergency Services about the growing problems.   The New Voltage Pictures  Steven Seagul Red Box Action/Crime movie,  gets into what is really going on with how drug operations are, with bad heroin, ecstasy ect.   To be a Cop these days and realize you can only get so far down the chain, most of the time, to shutdown drug operations is a sad reality and it’s more like “whack a mole” because the chain usually goes further. Steven Seagul Action Movies Street Wars Trailer

Cop movies use to be about bank robbers and the Mafias or a syndicate, but shows like “Breaking Bad” kind of shocked people because it’s rare that people understand that so many of the drugs, like Crystal Meth or even Ecstasy, are made in a Lab in someones home and the occasional “bad dope” gets a news story because of all the deaths that hospitals report, and the sick thing is sometimes, many times, it’s all part of the drug operations game plan.   Steven Seagul is back as Elijah Kane in the next part of the True Justice Series called “Street Wars”  I picked up late in the series but have been on-board and looking forward to the June 3rd release of “Street Wars” on RedBox.   Redbox is all over the place and sometimes a better “movie night” option than what you are limited to on your FIOS or Comcast Cable networks.

In “Street Wars” Elijah Kane picks up the trail of drug operation after a fatality at a Rave Club and his department is sent to investigate.   With so many that are in the drug culture,  there’s a segment that like the party life, and don’t feel involved with the violence and brutality of what drugs, money and greed brings out in people.  Elijah Kane is the Action Hero not afraid to wield a Benelli M4 Shotgun or take the bad guys down with his bare hands and the tough Female Cop Co-Stars-  Meghan Ory ( Juliet Saunders) and Sarah Lind (Sarah Montgomery)  have gun fight scenes with Glocks, H&K MP5s which looked decked out with Trijicon ACOGS  and look like TA01 models, while battling and fighting the bad guys while  Elijah Kane beguns uncovering and shutting down a far reaching opration that may lead back to dirty cop in his Cities Police Department.   I’m noticing lots of equipment changes and firearms added into the “Street Wars” action but as an action Movie Buff and Law Enforcement Industry worker I’m entertained.

 

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You need 2 Sleeping bags a Summer Bag and a Winter Bag so check out the Recon Sleeping Bags

Recon 2 Sleeping BagsRecon 3 Sleeping BagsRecon 4 Sleeping BagsRecon 5 Sleeping BagsWe have been expanding our EMS and Search and Rescue product lines in the last year from medical kits, Quick Clot sport and Combat Gauze as well as Timberline EMS Rescue Tools and Leatherman Multi-tools that are geared towards military, survival and Paramedics and EMTs.   There are always interesting products that Search and Rescue personnel buy from us that make you think they are going to be repelling off a cliff or going off on a jungle adventure.   One thing everyone knows in this industry is something many use to learn in Boy Scouts is “being prepared” is the best mindset you can have.  I don’t know the number of times I’ve been on friend or family trips and someone didn’t even think to bring rain gear or medical supplies.   There’s something to be said about survival of the fittest and when you are going in the outdoors for long periods of time, sometimes the possibility that something could go wrong and you might be out longer than expected is a real possibility.  Packing light is something that is much easier to do today and if you have old camping gear or outdated sleeping bags you might want to consider doing a clean out of your attic.

We picked up the Recon Sleeping bags via Elite Survival Systems and didn’t know much about them until they came in stock but we were really impressed with out light and compact these are.   There are always extreme temperatures that one can endure and not every sleeping bag is going to be good for -10 C and also be good for 95F temperatures.   Many in the Search and Rescue are aware that deployments might be a  lot longer and getting stuck over night in a not so great environment is a reality.   I’ve found that packing lighter gear especially camping and hiking gear is becoming easier and easier.   The lighter the sleeping bag the more food or gear you will be able to carry and even something like the Recon 2 Sleeping Bags or Recon 3 sleeping Bags and some type of emergency blanket that might only weigh a few ounces and cost less than $5 keeps your backpack light and gives you much more tolerance to cold temperatures.   The Recon Sleeping bags are very friendly to being geared up and ready to good since the bottom of the bag gives you the ability to move around with boots on without snagging or twist up.

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The Importance of Hydration Bags, and not making last minute guesses

5.11 Bags5.11 Tactical Hydration PouchThere are a lot of things you can buy in this industry that are a gimmick but there are plenty of things like Hyrdration packs that can be the difference between ending up in the Hospital with heat stroke vs. making overtime and getting a good pay check because you were able to run security at an event because you came prepared.    Most of us have some level of experience with backpacking or hiking, bike riding or jogging but finding the right balance for how much you need without over packing takes a little bit of foresight.    There are plenty of guys that have been in the military and know how to pack for trip and carrying the least amount of weight means less physical stress.  The same goes for someone working as an EMS or Law Enforcement Station and we hear all the stories about hospital visits and lack of preparation every time there is a running event or golf tournament.

Another thing to put into consideration is not just bringing water with you, that’s an easy thing to find if you run low, but you will need to replace more that just water but maintaining your hydration gear from mold or mildew means getting the right packs or bottles that have anti-microbial materials built into them.    We sold a ton of the 5.11 Tactical Bags last summer as well as Elite Survival Systems and Camel backs from 1 liter to 2 Liter backpacks.  If you are using a bag, many don’t realize that there are compartments to stow hydration packs that have a slot in them were the hydration tube can go.   Carbine Courses are another thing you should consider getting something for because its normal to have to carry all of your ammunition, gear and food with you.

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