Overhauling your home and personal defense flashlights

I don’t think I’ve seen more improvements that have affected my daily life more  than modern flashlight technology improvements.  I remember in Boy Scouts when the guys would show up with their Maglites and their battery sucking monoliths.   Batteries like the D battery are a thing of the past and just from a size standpoint,  the Streamlight Scorpion is probable 1/10 of the weight and 2x’s what some of those flashlights put out.  I find the Streamlight Scorpion to be the best all around flashlight, but it’s a bit too big for me for every day carry.   I also believe this light is the best size for weapons mounting but unfortunately I know of no pressure switch that works with them.

Everyone has  a different reason for for carrying a flashlight and depending on the task at hand we’ll have to choose one that works for us the best.   I Personally prefer the Streamlight Poltac and Scorpion with a Section 8 Tactical utlimate retention device on my Streamlight Flashlights.   This little accessory is also a great thing to have if you do not have a weapons mounted light and was a big hit for the IDPA Nationals Low-Light competition stages.  LED technology means more power and longer battery life and I strongly suggest you consider clearing out any of your older flashlights and stocking up on CR123 batteries because the shelf live is much longer and it’s all part of being organized and prepared.

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Gun safety and threat levels

I am a big proponent of carrying firearms for self defense but even if someone is training with me I still will never tell them that they must carry a firearm at all times.   There are a lot of liabilities to carrying firearms and people with certain personalities and character traits can become a liability to the image of responsible gun ownership.  Each of us has a different job in life and some jobs are more dangerous.   Threats of retaliation from gangs is something that occurs when good citizens stand up against them and even recently in Philadelphia a woman was murdered for being a witness to a murder.  What a horrible situation Philadelphia has become.

There are different levels of maturity for each child and it’s up to the parent to determine when a child can handle certain tasks, but leaving firearms around where any child has access to them is a bad idea.  Gunvault gun safes has more than just gun safes for you to consider for home defense.   You can hide and lockup a Carbine or a shotgun if you are creative enough and still have easy access.   There are plenty of non-lethal devices to deploy around your home for young adults to consider in a hostile situation.  CO2 Fire extinguishers are a great example of something that could be used against a break in.

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Major Shift in Tactical Clothing

Now that 2012 is upon us we will begin our shift towards carrying more of the Woolrich Elite and Tru-Spec line.   Although we do carry some of the 5.11 tactical clothing, there is very much a demand for things other than 5.11.   Vertx pants are very nice but considering the price tag on the products it’s a little too much to dive into at this point.   We’re expecting consumer confidence to pick up once there are changes in Washington and we hope there are.   I would have to say that Tru-Spec and Vertx seem to have made the most traction in 2011 and we plan on riding that wave although the Woolrich Elite Chino pants are our favorite pant of the year.

We are making some major changes to the inventory that we are stocking and it’s time to clean house.  For a short time we have reduced the large quantity of Eotac tactical pants to $24.99 and making room for other things.   These pants are a fantastic deal and the designs were very well thought out although according to many of our customers the Woolrich Elite pants had a better durability a held up better after washing.   I personally  have seen very little sizing issues between Woolrich Elite, Eotac and Tru-Spec pants so it should be an easy adjustment for our customer base.

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Push two pins and you’ve got a new firearms

Not only is the AR15 the most accessorized firearm there is, you can change the barrel lengths and even the calibers by pushing two pins out.  Sometimes a hammer spring or recoil spring needs to be replaced but that about it.   I would suggest that someone buy multiple uppers for one lower but the beauty of the AR15 is that if you want something else and are happy with most of what you own, you might just want a new  upper.  For instance if you are use to using an AR15 for self-defense or for training, but you want to do longer range shooting and are lucky enough to find a State where you can varmint hunt with an AR15, all you need is a different upper and you can reach out with a 20+ inch upper.

There are better calibers for varmint hunting but many people think that you need a 22/250 to hunt ground hogs or prairie dogs.   One nice thing about our AR15 complete upper receivers for sale at Rogue Elite is that you can practice hunting with your military style rifle.   You may have some adjustments to make to the stocks you are using especially if you are using larger optics, but once you’ve zeroed your scope in and if it’s properly mounted, you won’t have to sight it in again even if you pop out the lower.  Some upper receivers perform quite well even with shorter barrels.  My LWRC M6A2 16″ barrel is varmint accurate with the right ammo out to 400yds.

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Gloves and grips and the AR15

We’ve recently been getting in some tactical gloves from various companies to figure out what we should be stocking in 2012.   There are big differences in the types of gloves we are getting in.  Some are designed for heat resistance and others are basically designed for protection.   One of our favorites so far are the Vickers tactical mid-length gloves which sadly have dried up since Eotac ceased to exist.  These gloves are designed for an operator to cut off the trigger fingers on either hand if the shooter wants to and they will not fray beyond certain points.

Some of the other gloves we are stocking now are the turleskin safety gloves for Law Enforcement protection while searching suspects.   Body armor has improved in many ways and gloves and boots are catching up.   One thing that does change when an operator does wear certain gloves and Magpul accessories have the answer are changes to trigger guards.   If you look at something like an AK, the trigger guards are designed to be very large because most of the individuals using these were wearing thick winter gloves.

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New Colors from Woolrich Elite

We just got word that one of the new products coming from the Woolrich Elite Tactical line are the lightweight tactical pants in coyote.   For some reason it’s taken this long to come out with one of the most popular colors next to khaki.   When I first got into the tactical clothing market I always thought that that black would have been one of the most popular colors but it’s not.   I’d say the popular colors are Khaki, OD Green and Coyote.  If you look at the tactical footwear we sell, coyote brown and tan are more popular than black.

Everyone knows that tactical pants is a giveaway that you are carrying a gun, but black tactical clothing makes you look like a ninja or a bad guy.   There have been some tactical pants in a stone color which sold pretty well, but to each his own.   We were hoping there would be some changes to the lightweight line and have a gusseted crotch but I guess that won’t happen.   The Woolrich Elite line gets some of the least complaints and we’re always happen to not have to hear bad things from our customers about products.

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Mounting optics on a battle rifle.

I remember hearing the phrase “don’t put glass on a battle rifle” because it was pretty common in the 1990’s to not have 308 optics that held up to what the FAL and G3 rifles were doing to them.   Many of the battle rifles that were designed in the 1950s and later did not have optics meant for them.  Optics never caught up to combat durability until probable the ACOG  came out.    Even after that the ability to properly mount something like that on an FAL or a G3 style rifle was very difficult.

DSArms still makes the best FAL in my opinion and I own several of them but I have had some issues with the mounts they sell.  After about 3000rds i had a mount come loose and it’s caused me to second guess the design.  The one thing I really like about Trijicon Rifle Scopes especially the Trijicon ACOG is that they can be much easier to mount.   The Trijicon ACOG has a mount that can be screwed on and there is no worry about the reticle turning on you.  Everything will be level right from the get go.  Loctite still has to go on everything that screwd in, but it’s nice to not have to worry about that one thing.

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Visibility and profile of firearms

With all of those new hi-visibility gun sights out there the look of the traditional firearm is changing.  It’s not that uncommon to see a firearm like an AK with bright green, yellow or red sights.   Changing the sight color of your gun may dramatically speed up your target acquisition.   I really don’t mind people doing something like this because it’s better than putting optics on your firearm.  Some of the small red dot optics like the RM1 from Trijicon are nice, but they still make holstering the firearm or carrying a firearm like this a little too bulky.  If there was a way to get the sights to fold down, that would be a better setup.

Folding pistol sights would be something that I would love to see some day, if they can do it for a carbine they should be able to do it with a handgun.  Trijicon Rifle Scopes have varying profiles and some of the ones that are used by the military are meant to limit the need for batteries, but there are always trade offs.   I like Trijicon optics, but I do  not like the idea of having a hi-viz target indicator on my carbine and announce where I am.   The TA01NSN is still my favorite ACOG, but been low-profile means less of a chance of getting targeted.   The Trijicon Kill Flash is a much for all owners of Trijicon ACOGS.

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Thinking about another AR15 upper?

I would definitely suggest you consider a MOE configuration for your AR.   Magpul is the #1 AR15 magazine parts and accessories manufacturer and  as far as I know they all of their products are Made in the USA.   I have had to force myself to actually think about that recently after several people walked in our shop and were asking about the knives and clothing we sold and asked if they were Made in the  USA.   Sadly so much is not made in this Country anymore but there is definitely a trend away from China but hopefully it won’t turn into an all our trade war.

If people work in the Law Enforcement community or understand the economics of the gun industry and our present economic situation it is important to look into buying things made in the US.  When it comes to AR15 rifles, Magpul accessories are what you are going to want to put on your  gun and know you aren’t dressing down your firearms with made in China crap.   There is a certain pool of shooters though that just want save the money for good stuff and rarely have an item last.  The Magpul MOE can help you lighten and customize a firearm even more without wasting rail space and needing to put rail covers on all of that un-used space.

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Flashlights on a gun or hand held?

I think there is going to be a major change in the way we think of lights being mounted on firearms and in my opinion I wouldn’t spend too much money on firearm lights unless they were for my primary weapon.  It’s good to have more than one firearm available or atleast configured the way you want it for self-defense, but flashlights are getting smaller and more powerful and those bulky lights and expensive mounts are going to be a thing of the past in the next decade.   I suspect that in the next few years there will be pencel thin flashlights mounted on firearms that put out 200 lumens at ease.

I always hated the idea of putting flashlight on a handgun because that meant having to go through the holster testing ordeal all over again.   I have a bunch of Elite Survival holsters coming in soon that will get the job done, but Streamlight Flashlights especially the TLR-1 and the newer TLR version are probable the biggest sellers now.   The cool thing about them is you can put them on handguns and rifles but I wouldn’t blow more than $300 on a weapon mounted light just yet unless, like I said it was for a primary weapon.   If you look at how much LED technology has improved and light gathering technology like solar cells, smaller batteries and smaller lights with larger output are right around the corner.

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