All posts tagged Range Bags

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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Elite Survival Overall view of the product line

Elite survival gun casesWe’ve been customers of Elite Survival Systems before we actually started carrying the product line and they were one of the early products we decided to pick up.  We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the Voodoo tactical products which are next on our list. People are very specific about molle gear and once someone drops $2000 or more on a rifle, the argument about putting out $100 or more on a gun case is moot.  I have several of the gun cases since I find that one of the coolest aspects of the Elite Survival Systems made in the USA product line.   I have the COC cases in 33 and 36 for myself as well as the Epsilon Shooting mats.   Each of these work well for most Carbines like the AK or AR15 variants.  I have a Bushmaster 20 inch barrel in one and my M6a2 in another.

When it comes to bags, we have a military, security and EMS customer base that have gear usually in another bag and they want to make sure it’s going to work for them in their new bag.   Some of the products like the Elite Survival gun cases are specific to caliber and the size of the rifle.  We have a large 3 gun shooter customer base and the Double Agent case has also been a top seller.   People that are travelling and need a Remington 870 and an AR15 don’t want to need to pick up 2 rifle case, a double is what they want.   The amount of padding or foam protection can vary from brand to brand and the durability of the zippers can also vary.   Elite Survival Systems product line is our primary tactical nylon line for a reason.

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Backpacks, range bags, and customizing.

5.11 bagsI have so many brand names of nylon gear in my house it’s not funny.   I don’t even know some of the manufacturers names because they weren’t tagged very well.  It seems with the number of sales calls I get every year, there are about as many nylon makers as there are custom kydex holster makers.  There are certain things that we just push off to other companies because it’s too time consuming.   People are very particular about the type of bag they want and they will know it when they see it, but the problem is they want to hold it in their hands.    There are different points of placing molle straps and sometimes a bag has too much and sometimes too little.   There are is an endless supply of so called “tactical” backpacks, but unless you have the time to travel, good luck trying to find a store that  has evertything.

One of the main reasons we opened up a tactical store was so that our local customers could check stuff out before they purchased it.   5.11 tactical is a monster of a company and they have so many cool products that many of our Police and EMS personnel prefer the 5.11 bags primarly the Rush products.  The Rush messenger and Rush 24 and 72 are extremely popular with paramedics and ambulance companies.  Some military guys have been buying just about everything that we sell in multicam which makes the 5.11 Rush 72 backpack very popular.   We normally stock all of these items in our Broomall, Retail store so stop in and check them out.

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Backpacks, range bags, and sleeping bags

Elite survival systems bagsYou really need to know what you need or what you are looking for before you start shopping for a range bag.   Too many people rush into buying backpacks and range bags and find out they needed something bigger or that they should have spent more money on something instead of buying small.  Pistol bags and range bags are often out grown as well as gun cases.   We should have hit the record button in the store this week and just posted the transcripts of some of the things our customers said about what they should have gotten from us in the last year.   Too many people start out with price restrictions and end up buying twice instead of once for rifle cases and range bags.   Scopes on pistols or added accessories like pistol magazines are nice to keep together, all  in once place.

Having a bugout bag means different things to different people and not everyone is going to put the same things in there.  Some tactical teams and swat teams are going to put things in something like  Elite Survival Systems bags that have food and medical supplies in them.  I think having medical supplies in a bugout bag are a good idea but small quantities of food or ammo is something you can easily stow away and just forget it’s there.   The Elite Survival Systems smokescreen concealment backpack, especially the navy blue one is very low profile and almost looks like it should say NIKE   on it since it’s very sporty or athletic looking.

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Gun holsters on a budget

We never bash brands unless we really have issues with them, whether it’s quality control or ridiculous product pricing.   There are some brands we have dropped over the years, mostly gun accessories because the amount of breakage was too high and we got tired of hearing it from our customers.  Many of the gun cases or gun bags we sell are made in foreign Countries and are reasonable priced, but some people just won’t buy products that aren’t made in the United States.   We’ve seen some gun  holster companies be forced to manufacture certain products in Asia because the restrictions and costs were too high here.

When you need a gun holster for your handgun or your rifle, we know that not everyone wants to spend $100 on a gun case because the gun may have only cost you $200 and $30 bulldog gun cases are all you need.  Nylon gun holsters can vary in quality and features but we leave it up to the customers to decide if they want to spend the money on Bulldog, 5.11, Blackhawk, Elite Survival or the well known Uncle Mike’s gun holsters.  All of those pretty much give you what you pay for them.  For higher end firearms you might want more protection for your gun and $100 gun cases will give you that.

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Range bags and something else for carrying handguns

I have several range bags that I’ve used over the years and they seem to keep getting bigger and bigger.  I have lots of experience taking guns to the range and realizing I forgot a certain caliber handgun or forgot to bring a sight in tool and pretty much spoiled my range day by doing that.   Nothing sucks worse than bringing a rifle to the range and knowing it’s not sighted in and not having the ability to correct it.   My Elite Survival Medium range bag was a step up from my Uncle Mikes range bag because it had a few better thought out features.

One thing I have learned to do is pack the bare minimum of firearm accessories, hearing protection and eye wear.  If I am taking a training course I usually use my Elite Survival bags like the 4 gun pistol pack.   I have modified that firearm bag to just use my combat or primary weapons.  It is outfitted with the  molle attachments that pertain to that caliber magazine, radio or other tools.   This Elite Survival bag can easily handle 4 large frame handguns and magazines.   My Beretta 92FS, Sig 229, Springfield XD and my Ruger GP100 all fit very well in this gun bag.

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Binoculars in your range bag

I have a pretty good range bag that I keep all of  my sight in tools and magazine conversion kits in it.  All of my hearing protection and sometimes a few loaded magazines.   The one thing I have always kept in there were my binoculars.   I have taught so many people to shoot firearms and there have been times that I totally forgot to bring a rifle with magnification on it when I was teaching new shooters to shoot with a 22LR and iron sights.  It’s good to start people out on iron sights whether it’s with a 22 bolt action or an AR15 A2 style rifle.   If the shooter is old enough and can handle the nose and the recoil the AR15 is a good starting point.

When you try to see those groups at 100yds, sure you can hit a once inch square at those distances and accurately group them, but if your sights are off or you are trying to determine where your novice shooter is hitting, you don’t want to have to call cease fires and check paper.  There are many differences in the light gathering abilities of optics but Bushnell binoculars are reasonable priced and for most practical purposes, they get the job done and won’t cost you hundreds of dollars.  It’s always a good idea to keep your lense clean and this can have a big impact on your light gathering and clarity.

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Every day or go to bag for the car, any suggestions? Yep!

We’ve had a lot of bags go through our store and 5.11 tactical seems to have a really good product and there Rush messenger bags and the Rush 72 bags are a big hit with the EMS and Paramedic community.   We did a  lot of thinking over the last couple years about what products we were going to be bringing in and one thing that we find more and more common in the Law Enforcement Community is buying products made in the USA.  Many customers are willing to pay more for an American Flag logo than for something made in China.  It makes sense if your job is to protect this national and uphold the Law of the Land and wear the gear and equipment that is made here.

That seems to be a bit harder these days although I have seen many tactical products showing up that are made in this Country.  The M4 Roller is the largest of the Elite Survival Bags that we stock and it was very well received by the SWAT and Paramedic departments.  This is a hard thing for people to know if they wants to buy if they aren’t holding it in their hands and going through all of the compartments.   This a really big bag and something you’ll want to pick up on location rather than buy it online.  If you are looking for a very comfortable grab and go or 24hr bag to leave in the car the Smokescreen concealment pack has a holster compartment for a firearm but also has a very low profile.  The navy version of the bag is pretty cool because it looks more like something that should say Nike on it.

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There is a method of concealment for each situation

When Summer rolls around here it sometimes gets difficult to carry the firearm that you carrid in the Winter.  Several of my Law Enforcement buddies have told me that they carry Sig 230’s most of the time and keep it simple.   I have friends that carry full size 1911s, they can conceal them very well but carry it near the spine is not a safe way to carry in my opinion and it’s hard to run and play baseball when  you carry a large frame firearm.  The Glock 26 is another firearm that many carry in the Summer because its a much shorter gun that can almost be carried in a pocket.

I never bash people for carrying in a fanny pack because I had to do it for a job and most people I talked to said I looked like a Pizza delivery guy and it fit the situation.  I noticed many women carrying at parks with something that could easily be Blackhawk gun cases or a Blackhawk Fanny pack.   The only bad thing about some of the tactical bags and the fanny packs is seeing the name on the bag which can be a dead giveaway to a profession, but from my experience the dumbest criminals tend to be the biggest threats.

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Gun bags and gun cases, a hard sell online?

We’ve had so many people tell us they are glad to see a place like ours in our area because so much of what we carry are things people want to hold in their hands before they buy.  We have chosen the Elite Survival Systems product line as our premier tactical nylon product line and with the majority of the products being made in the USA, it’s been an easy sell to anyone that has never heard of them.  When people tell us they are looking for range bag, they usually have a preference in the size of compartments they need and considering the wide range of firearms out there, some times they are very, very specifici.

When it comes to gun cases, we have heard the same thing over and over again, a guy gets an AR15, and the gun case fits the gun.   The same person puts accessories on his firearm and then it doesn’t fit and then they stop in and pick up the Elite Survival gun cases and gun bags like the Covert Operations Discreet case.   The Elite Tactical Messenger bag has also been a hit with the EMS community.  We have sold many of the Ultimate Sniper Drag Bags to military and civilians and they are some of the best thought out gun cases we have ever sold.

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