More feedback from Original Swat customers

The beauty of having a retail store and not just being and e-commerce business is that you get face to face and hands on experience working with customers and products.   You can talk about something over the phone all you want, but sometimes you can learn things just by watching someone use a tool.   I just got a demo on how to draw a firearm from a shirt that I never saw before and it looked like something from a martial arts movie, but it was funny watching a big fat guy show you how he busts bad guys.   This cop was explaining how he made an arrest on a criminal a few days ago and seeing the reasons he moved that way was interesting.

When it comes to what people want with boots, the ability to shine boots seems to be pretty important to many of our customers.  Original Swat footwear comes with a 1yr warranty on all of their stuff.   It’s great being a dealer for a product that is backed by it’s manufacturer.    The newest bit of info we got from our customers is the arguments over lace up boots and original swat side-zip boots.   Some guys have had bad experiences with zippers but I think like many things, it’s how you handle something. Some people don’t know how to close a car door and they end up messing everything up.  Last month I watched somebody ride a door shut and he bent the door so bad it didn’t close right.  I bet he has problems with his zipper, too.

 

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Now this is going to get interesting

I have walked many a gun show floor and walked by the booths that had all of the assemble and disassemble books.   Those are useful, but at many times very hard to read.   Little arrows and pictures can still make it hard to comprehend.   Along comes the VHS and DVD world and AGI has done a good job on this.   I’m also a very big fan of Clint Smith and his DVD collection although pretty expensive really turns out to be worth the money spent.   For the most part they are well produced, but a few spotty parts should have been re-shot.

Panteao Productions has there shit together.  I just saw a glimpse of the next in line, Travis Haley, who recently left Magpul, and started Haley Strategic Partners, is working with Panteao Productions to release “Adaptive Carbine” his first production since leaving Magpul.  Travis is kinda the rockstar of the gun DVDs.  The production on the Magpul Dynamics DVD series are outstanding.  I’ve only been able to watch the Make Ready Series a few times, but I haven’t been let down.  If I pick all of the best firearm instructors I know,  I’m betting there all on the schedule with Panteao Productions.

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More feedback on the Otis System

I recently had a walk in customer look up at all of the Otis gun cleaning systems that we have in stock and mentioned that he never got into the Otis thing.   Well, the gun rod thing works well if you have a good cleaning rod and not one of those 3 piece starter kits that you got for your 22LR.   I’ve bent them myself and seen others do catastrophic things to them.   I’m not going to rave that the Otis System works better than any cleaning rod system, but there are advantages.

About the only disadvantage of the Otis system is that you might not be able to push forward on the cleaning patch as well, but yet again, what the hell are you doing that you need to push a cleaning rod that hard?   The Otis gun cleaning kits are small, compact, they hold the lube, and there is almost no chance that you will have to carry a bottle around with you that will leak all over your gear.   The cleaning systems are advanced or simple and can be used specifically for an AR15 style rifle.

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$29.99 pants on sale until they’re gone

It’s time to clear out some space and make room to transition our store into a kick ass Police, Security and Law Enforcement supply place.    We just got in a huge  inventory of Original Swat tactical boots and the diverse product line of footwear is impressive.  We’ve done a few conventions for their products and we know what people want to see.   Recently we had several groups from local Swat teams show up and we sent out a bunch of stuff for testing and evaluations. Product feedback is important and we are listening.
We got a lot of requests from people to start carrying the Tru-Spec 24/7 line of clothing.   The women’s pants have a pretty good repuation, but this whole un hemmed thing for women’s tactical pants is someone annoying, but I know why they are doing it.  With our broad display of tactical pants we’re adjusting to the demand of our customer base.   The Eotac product line was a great sell, but now it seems to be a thing of the past and it’s time to move on.  Stock up on the last of the lightweight pants for $29.99.

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Streamlight and it’s competition

I was at several tactical conferences over the last few months from the NYTOA, NJTOA, and the NRA Convention in Pittsburgh.    I got into using Streamlight flashlights because they were well within my price range and seemed to be more worthy of being used with firearms than anything that Radio Shack had in stock.   I really didn’t  know what I was doing when I purchased a CAA mount on my M4 Carbine, but it got it to work after using a good bit of super glue.   I’ve found that everything you need to mount on a M4 rail needs loctite or super glue.  The mount I got for my Streamlight scorpion didn’t hold and it wasn’t just because of the mount, the rubber cover on the Scorpion didn’t grip the mount well at all.

Streamlight seems to have a good foot in the door for Law Enforcement and Firemen.   I was not impressed with the price margins on some of the Surefire flashlights that I cam across because spending more than $200 on any flashlight is something disturbing if you ask me.  Streamlight flashlights are price well and I still primarily push the Streamlight Scorpion and the Polytac flashlights for weapons mounting.   There are pressure switches you can use, but I have not had the need for them. The Profession Series are really nice for CCW because they are smaller to stow in a pocket but not too small they they need to be on a keychain or easily lost.

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Firearm training and DVD instructional video just broader

I have a great many gun dvd’s in my collection and they are mostly of value, but I did have a few that I lent to a friend for comical reasons, but unfortunately they got lost and there’s no way in hell I’ll spend the money for another batch of them.    Now that DVD editing has gotten better and easier to do, more firearms trainers are taking to the camera eye.   There are several people that I would love to train with, but like many people I can’t take 3 days off from my day job.  I subscribed to the Outdoor Channel over a year ago, but sadly most of the shows I watch are producing so few shows that I’ve already seen the same ones 4 or 5 times and I’m itching for something a little more complicated.

We just got word that Travis Haley just got done shooting “Adaptive Carbine” training course and will be out in a few months.    Considering the names that I am seeing on the Make Ready gun dvds,  I’m sure that Fernando Coelho knows the people to get in front of the camera and how to sell a DVD.   I think all of these DVD’s are a great thing because the production is so well done and gun owners will have easy access to important tactics and safe gun handling skills.   I think there are too many people out there that own AR15 rifles that don’t know the proper ways to maintain or handle them.

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Water proof size zip boots from Original Swat

This past week we worked with the company Original Swat and part of our experience at the Police and Security Expo was to learn about the product line.   There were several new colors and styles that aren’t even on the Original Swat website yet and many of our customers were ordering them.   We definitely noticed there were the more popular sizes and we also learned a lot about the competition and what people wanted someone else to make.   Original Swat got a lot of feedback about the Waterproof boots especially the zip up waterproof 1234.   Some people don’t like zippers because they seem to think they won’t hold up, but that isn’t something I’ve ever seen be a problem.

The only issue with the waterproof boots with the zipper was that some people said it felt like there was something rubbing them in the inside of the boot.   One thing that you do  have to remember with footwear is that there is a break in period.   People seem to forget that when they put on something like Original Swat boots that there is a  lot of flexing that needs to take place for the boots to adjust to someones foot.  Whenever I’ve put on sneakers, I’ve had little sore spots at the top of my feet until the footwear flexed.    The real thing to remember is boots are for support and protection, and if you don’t need all of that support, go with some type of shoe.

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After Action report at Atlantic City

We got a lot of feed back from people we ran into at the Police and Security Expo in Atlantic City, New Jersey.   There was a lot more foot traffic this year than previous years which was somewhat shocking considering the bad economy.   One of the best things about selling the Original Swat footwear was the price points.   From what many of the customers have told us, they spend sometimes 3xs as much money on boots for 3 times as much weight.

The Original Swat 1232 have a air cushion in the sole and that were by far the biggest seller.   The other thing people like about that style is that it has a side-zip and that it was light.   Original Swat boots has a 1 year guarantee on their footwear and this is a great thing for a dealer to deal with.  If there is a factory flaw and the boots come apart. You will just need to send in your receipt and Original Swat will replace the boots.

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Mid Summer Sales

Rogue Elite now has a retail location and much of the area that we were using for storing tactical clothing, gear and accessories is being cleared out for our new retail location.   We won’t make this out to be a giant grand opening bananza right now, but many of our Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware customers have all wanted to try things on before buying them and now they can.

Rogue Elite is still primarly an internet based business but we are stocking more and more products at our Broomall location.  We are selling Trijicon ACOGS tactical vests, tactical pants, combat optics, Eotech, Wilson combat magazines, gun cleaning supplies and Original Swat boots.   We are always looking for customer feedback on what types of products they are looking for and using.

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Gun cleaning is a talent

When most people think about gun cleaning they usually think about how fast they can get it done and what gun cleaning supplies they can use to get the job done.  Most of the time I just use Break Free CLP on all of my guns and rarely bother with Hoppes cleaning solvent.   I’ve learned to avoid those really harsh gun cleaning chemicals and only use them when I am shooting lead or haven’t cleaning a firearm for awhile after shooting it.

Last week I got an opportunity to shoot some of the LWRC M6 rifles.   A few weeks before that I got to shoot an LWRC M6AK.   The only simliar type of AR15 upper receivers I shot were the Smith & Wesson 5.45×39 uppers.  These guns varied in cost, but when I cam home I don’t think I shot up more than $50 worth of ammo and I must have expensed more than 500rds.   When we were done I was told to clean them with Windex!  And that’s another story.

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