All posts in Tactical Gear

Belt suggestions and the hazzards of ordering online

Wilderness beltsThere a warning signs when checking out on The Wilderness belts website about making sure you measure yourself before buying because their belts are made when orders are placed and they do not accept returns.   We on the other hand are stocking dealers and only stock even sizes from 30 waist to 48 waist so if someone needs to move a size up, it’s not that hard for us to just swap them out.  Having a store front where you can walk in and try something on and get it right the first time is a major plus.   These have velcro on them and there is no belt holes to adjust sizing and if it’s not attached properly to your waist size you will  not get full use of the belt.

I personally have worn these belts for over 10 years and have good luck with them.    One of the best things about investing your money in The Wilderness belts as when the velcro wears out you can just have it redone for a small fee and not buy a whole new belt.  This is something that has only happened to me one time in over 10years of use.   You can use these as rescue belts or as a CCW belt and it will give you very good support for large frame guns.   I went from a regular dress belt to a Wilderness belt and the difference in support for my Colt 1991A1 was tremendous.  I could barely feel the weight of the gun where I could feel the pull when I was wearing my dress belt.   Lots of people don’t use the right kind of belt for their guns and The Wilderness isn’t going to let you down.

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Using Flashlights on weapons and for search, how many lumens do you really need?

Streamlight FlashlightsI remember upgrading from the XENON bulbs to LED Upgrades on several of my flashlights a few years ago.   I was using Streamlight Scorpions and Surefire G2 flashlights that I believe were around 80 lumens each and I was impressed back then at how bright they were.   The only piss off I had with them was how the bulbs didn’t really last that long and I didn’t really like the lack of reliability, regardless of how bright they were.   The Streamlight Scorpions were upgraded to about 130 Lumens with the Upgrade kit, and the first thing I did was mount them on my AR15 rifle.   I was very happy having a weapon mounted light on my guns when I was up in the woods of Pennsylvania but I also choose to put a flip on red lense because I learned in Boy Scounts that bright lights can ruin your vision at night.

The old Army Flashlights had multiple lense on them for variations on lense width always came with a red or blue lense.   I don’t know why people forget this when they buy high lumen Streamlight Flashlights and thing 300 Lumens of light is going to win a fight when having low light abilities and being fast on your feet is a much better strategy.    Streamlight is a very good company to choose from and their price points and warranties are going to make our customers feel like they spent their money wisely.   Remember that the light you have on your firearm is not the light that you should always use for searching for something.  Having two flashlights on  your person is really the way to go.

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Ballistic Eyewear, frames and lenses, how do you decide?

Smith Optics Elite EyewearMany people I know go to gun clubs with inexpensive eyewear that they may have picked up at a hardware store because it was only $7.99 and they didn’t want to spend the money on something they hardly use.  It still amazes me to this day the number of people that don’t where eyewear when shooting but I learned my lesson the hardware, or better yet, avoid serious eye injury.  Years ago I had a magazine blow out on me on cheap surplus ammunition and if I hadn’t been wearing my WileyX ballistic eyewear I might have lost an eye.  I’ve heard horror stories of soldiers in Iraq getting eyewear from family members or purchased themselves that they thought was ballistic but after an IED went off, they lost an eye.

People don’t realize that in a major gun fight, fragmentation is a serious issue and it’s not only the bullet that can cause injury.   Take a shot at a 300yd target with an AR15 about 3 feet in front of your target and watch how many fragments of stone, rock, lead, or steel will fly through paper.  Our chosen ballistic eyewear has been the Smith Optics Elite eyewear and a large selection of ballistic sunglasses and tactical googles since many of the Elite Military have given us positive feedback.   The Outside the Wire Turbo fan is probable the highest price ballistic goggles we sell but in most situations, having a fan vent out moisture is going to get you through the fight and not relying on a piece of eyewear to not fog up.

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5.11 bags #1 for ems in our neck of the woods

5.11 bagsI still don’t know how to say who makes the best backpacks in this industry because every week we have another person asking if we carry a certain brand of bags.  From Maxpedition to US Patriot and Elite Survival and Voodoo Tactical.   We’ve checkout our Voodoo Tactical and Condor stuff for several years but we mostly stock the stuff that moves the quickest.  The 5.11 tactical product line has been out there for a very long time in the Tactical and Emergency Management world and lately the term “bugout bag” gets thrown around a lot but not everyone uses the same bags for the smae thing.   The Rush Messenger bag and the Bailout bag are used for these terms as well as “active shooter bags.

We have been stocking most of the higher end tactical nylon gear, namely anything made in the USA, but not everything we carry online is stocked here.  The most commonly asked about questions when it comes to tactical bags are the 5.11 bags like the Rush 12, Rush24 and Rush 72 Bags.  Many of our local customers are Paramedics and they use the Rush 24 and the Rush 72 bags in black or tan.   These bags have been through a few changes but we continue to stock the Multicam bags for all of these various sizes.  The 5.11 MOAB is also a very commonly sold, Online or In store pick up item.

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Tactical gear for yourself or send your spouse for a gift certicate

Philadelphia Police SuppliesIn this industry, it is so technical that it’s very rare for someone  in the Law Enforcement community to send someone in to shop for them.  We get a lot of last minute buyers when someone finds out they got moved to a SWAT Team or recently got hired to be a  Police officer in the Delaware County, Chester County or Philadelphia Police Department.  Usually customers come in in waves, after Graduations at the Philadelphia Police Academy or the Delaware County Police Academy.   Recently we started getting customers from the Montgomery County Police Academy Training Center.   Each week we’ve been setting up 1 or 2 Police Departments for their Clothing Allowances and logistically speaking, the customers are glad we are here in Delaware County so they can walk in and walk out.  Shopping for tactical pants, shirts and body armor is something that people want to do in-store and not online.

Our 1500 sq ft Broomall, Police Depot and tactical store is in the heart of Delaware County in the Broomall Industrial Park.   We are a stocking dealer for many in the region and we are a good source for Philadelphia Police Supplies from tactical boots from the Original Swat Footwear company, Tru-Spec, 5.11 tactical, ATS Tactical,  Streamlight Flashlights like the Stinger and Strion, which are rechargeable flashlights that the vast majority of Upper Darby, Marple Township and even the State Police are using.  We stock many of the handcuff and Safariland products that new Police Officers will need for their duty gear.  CR123 batters are something we need to keep in store at all times because most local places that sell them are 50% more than what we charge.

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Forget about lasers and flashlights, now may be the time to put new sights on your gun

Trijicon Night SightsThe Trijicon High Definition nights sights have been our fastest selling night sights and we didn’t even know how hot they were until we started listing them  on our website.   Several Special Forces groups stopped in our store and told  us that those were their chosen night sights on all of their Glock handguns.   I was kind of shocked to hear this because so many old guys, or people with bad eyesight are the ones that usually ask us for the hi viz sights and I first started seeing them on shotguns and lever actions.   There have been major changes  in optic colors in recent years from red, to the green sights, and major tests on how the human eye picks up green illumination, especially over longer distances with Green than with Red.

The beauty of these nights sights is they aren’t those old green tritium sights, they are tritium with an even high definition sight for day time use.   These Trijicon Night sights are probable just as marketable in the regular sight market as they are for night time.   I have been checking out the GL101Y and GL101O sights for sometime and when my Sig 228 night sights burn out, I will definitely be looking into updating with the Sg101Y or SG101O sights.   These will absorb light from any available light so if you move from indoors to outdoors they will still hold a certain amount of illumination that will be brighter than the Tritium.   I expect to see more of these showing up on new Glocks considering how popular they are.

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Custom Kydex and Tactical Nylon Companies, what are the differences?

There  are a lot of differences in the designs of various tactical nylon companies but if you care about getting something that is not stamped with the Made in China on the tag, you’re going to spend a few bucks more but you might get a better warranty and customer service.   Customer service is something that is less common than quality products.   We’ve dealt with some major gun manufacturers that had a level of elitism about their products and would refused to acknowledge design flaws, while others valued our opinions and hinted that they were on the ways of making some changes.  We are still up in the air about what types of Kydex holsters we should be stocking in our store and it’s basically because we have not got consistent customer feedback about styles or brand names.

When it comes to which brand of tactical nylon gear, we have narrowed it down to only about 5 companies.   The 5.11 bags 5.11 bagsthat we have in our store are extremely popular with EMS and Paramedics because so many people have held them in their hands and know what they are getting.   The Rush messenger bags have been widely used in Hospitals in our area and several Chester Police Officers here in Pennsylvania are using the 5.11 bail out bags for their bug out gear.   Having a good active shooter bag means having foot, first aid, ammunition and possible something like bottled water or a juice box.  It’s always nice to to walk into a store and be able to open the bags up and check the zippers and stitching quality out.   5.11 Tactical might not be the best for everyone, but they make a lot of goof products.

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Review on Original Swat Chase Series

Most of you kn1312-2ow that I have bad feed and I am not always the best source for giving good opinions about various tactical gear because I just can’t always use it in the manor that it is meant to be.    I have been wearing the 1232 boots for about 4 years and noticed some production chances that have really cut back from the small number of complaints about the boots to ZERO.   The Original Swat boots have a stitched toe that was previously just glued on and this gives it more durability for kicking into objects.   In this industry you aren’t just running and sometimes have to kick in a door or kick a bad guy down on the ground.   I’ve seen people break zippers on some of the Original Swat boots and I heard there is a production change to the new 2013 production but those complaints were few.

The YKK zippers and the designs have gotten even better and Original Swat pays far more attention to backing their products than most customers.   I am now wearing the Chase Series Original Swat boots and the traction on these is far superior to the  that I was wearing before.   When you are choosing a Police Boot  you do have to think about traction because there are many different pros and cons of each style.   Some people want safety toe and others don’t and if you want Waterproof boots you probable aren’t going to be wearing them in the hot summer.  Lace up or side zip are also things you need to decide on.   The 1151 coyote boot is a very eye catching product we like to keep out on display because it’s the least tactical looking color but still has applications to people working in the Industry.

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Ballistic Eyewear and fit issues

smith optics elite eyewearIt amazes me the improvements and advances body armor has made over recent years and how the military issued stuff has trickled down to Law Enforcement and Civilian use.   Plenty of people that have money carry guns and sometimes want body armor because being have a certain amount of money opens you and your family up to home invasions, hostage taking and kidnapping.   People that live in the limelight are also sometimes the targets of some of the professional criminals and total wack jobs.   All you have to do is look at what happened to John Lennon and the background of the person behind the attempt at killing President Reagan.   Ronald Reagan was actually suppose to be wearing a bullet proof vest on the day he got shot and choose  not to have it on that day.

Police Officers are often called to the scene of dangerous situations and you don’t always hear about all of the casualties that can occur besides stabbings and shootings.  Sometimes Police end up with Hepatitis C if they got stuck with a needle or lost an eye because they didn’t have ballistic eyewear on like the Smith Optics Elite eyewear  that we have been carrying.   The tactical sunglasses we sell are very well received by local Law Enforcement because they can walk in our store and try them on.  All of the 6 tactical sunglasses we sell have different fit and it’s not one of those things you just buy online.   We have a very high satisfaction level from our customers that are wearing them.

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Major Changes to lubrication and gun grease

gun cleaning suppliesLots of gun owners are starting to realize that they should consider using a form of gun grease on their firearms.  Now that so many people are using .308 rifles the heat and friction rates are much higher than 5.56 guns.    Long term storage and larger mechanical parts means harder banging and clanking around and it’s not just the guys that had the Springfield M1A rifles that still use gun grease.   I have been looking for a good gun grease for a long time ever since my Colt gun grease started running out.  We found out about the Slip 2000 gun grease after becoming a Slip 2000 dealer and I have used it on all of my AR15 recoil springs to smooth out the action and also to get rid of that AR15 gun ping that makes the firearm sound like sometime of BB gun.

With all of the Sig and FN SCAR Rifles becoming more and more popular, it’s not just M1A vs FAL as far as durable and reliable 7.62 MM guns.   I have been cleaning out all of my old gun cleaning supplies and bringing in new stuff.  Frog lube is another lubrication we hear about but it’s really up to the customers what works best for them.  M-Pro7 has greatly improved it’s product line and we are moving further away from the old Hoppes #9 that probable 90% of gun owners have used in the past.  The best thing about many of these lubricants is they are also as good with rifles as they are with handguns.  The gun grease are not sticky and thick like they use to be.

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