Archive for November, 2011

Belt holsters, its not the same for every firearm

I have found holsters that have worked very well for me in the past and did make a mistake at one point, after picking up a Glock 19 and thinking my Don Hume Jit holster was going to work just as well for that firearm as it did for a Sig 239.   It fit just fine but the gun did not feel as balance in this holster type and it seemed to swing a little too much.   Movement with gun holsters is something that should be avoided.   I have often taught students in classes where the first thing we did before we went to the training range was to try running 100yds and back and feel the movement of their gear and get rid of the stuff that didn’t stay still.

Gun magazines and radios should not move one bit and any gun that has play in it has the capability of not being where you want it to be if you tried to grab it.   The Desantis holsters that we sell to customers that fit this criteria are the Desantis Scabbard holsters.  These holsters will keep your gun securely up against your body and not bobble about.  There are many operators that improperly deploy secondary sidearms with the holsters they use which often comes up on day one with leg holsters.

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5.11 Taclite pro pants the best from 5.11

According to our customer base, the 5.11 taclite pro pants are the best tactical pants coming from 5.11 right now.   I’m not sure exactly when these came out, but we saw a ton of them at the Pittsburgh NTOA last year.   We recently attended a pepper spray training course at a prison here in Philadelphia and everything we saw was either TruSpec or 5.11 tactical.   We started out selling just about everything other than 5.11 products because there seems to be a very big market for non-5.11 tactical pants.

Much of the tactical clothing business is about preference and fit.   Not everyone has the same job nor are they built the same way so why would everyone wear the same tactical pants?   Blue jeans have a few color variations when you buy them new, and maybe one or two fits, but nobody expects to carry lots of gear in them.   The differences between the TruSpec 24/7 pants, 5.11 tactical and Woolrich Elite Series pants are pretty big.  The material and the designs give you big differences in usefulness will depend on what you are using them for.   Some materials prevent stains better than others and nothing beats 100% cotton ripstop for hot weather.

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Regardless of all of those .380 pistols out there

And I’m sure many of you own the Ruger LCP and LCR guns by now, but the Kahr .380 pistols are still in the top 3 as far as parts, magazines and holsters for .380 firearms.   I  own a few Walther PPK handguns but mostly for the nostalgia.   I personally think there are a lot of firearms that people own just because they like them and not because they are all that great of a gun.   There are many firearms in that CCW market that are almost like sports cars, they sit in peoples driveways or garages and get worked on, but they never go out on the street and on occasion, get taken to the race track.

Everyone and their dog is making a .380 pistol now, but the ballistics have not really changed that much and from my real world experience, I won’t carry anything smaller than a 38 Special.   Kahr firearms and Kahr magazines are still the number one selling CCW gun and magazines we see moving.  Their 9mm are very reliable and the prices are pretty good considering what you get from them.   There are a few older models that you might want to avoid, but the stuff they have out now very good for the price.

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Magpul Stocks and Accessories

If you’re ready to do some Christmas shopping for your husband or boyfriend, ask them if they need anything for  their AR15 and I’m sure there will be something that they wish they could put on there gun.   Everyone with an AR15 has something that they want to try out or mount.   There are different accessories for different things and recently I got a phone call from a friend that was looking for an AR15 for varmint hunting.   Varmint hunting is something that comes up from time to time and its more about magazines and bullet styles than accessories, but sometimes that might mean rail covers on everything.

I tried the whole folding handguard thing but it didn’t work out too well when I found out that it was cracking.  The Magpul MOE accessories are probable the newest thing that is going to cause the AR15 world to go crazy over.   Everyone put a fore grip on their AR15 and some people never knew why they should do it, now people are realized how difficult it is to shoot with something like that and the Angled foregrips from Magpul give you the best middle of the road option.   The Magpul MOE also cuts out a good bit of weight for someone that cares about that.

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Wearing the right pants for the job

I recently took a trip for work where I figured that I was better off getting there on time than going back home and getting changed into my Woolrich Elite 44429 pants and then going back to work again.  Every once in awhile I still need to make the novice mistakes of cutting time out of a project and then creating a problem.   Brain farts are coming amonst males and last week was one of them.   There are plenty of times where I want to go out and really am not in the mood for wearing any kind of tactical pants. It’s nice to be able to put on a pair of pants and just go and not have to load up all of the flashlight, guns, magazine holders and knife and just go.

Well, without going into too much detail, I missed not having pants with wide hand pockets and it go really annoying that my flashlight got turned on in my pocket because the other stuff that I had to put in there kept hitting the on switch.   Most good tactical pants will be big enough to fit a j-frame revolver and even if you aren’t carrying a gun in your pocket, that amount of space means keys, flashlights and magazines tend to not fall out of the pockets.  The way the stitching is done, the gear will catch on the pocket lining before and reduce the chances of something falling out.

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Physical work and concealed carry

I still to this day do not know how I have hurt myself but there were times that I was carrying IWB and bruised my hips and couldn’t carry the gun for awhile.  I think it was possible from driving in a car for a long time and had the seat belt kind of squeeze the gun up against me a  little more.   That is still to this day the most annoying thing about driving is having to put a seat belt on and carrying a medium or large firearm on your belt.

I much rather carry on a shoulder rig, but that is not a very good CCW method in warm weather and the should harness can be a dead giveaway.   Galco holsters makes the nicest leather holsters and the Miami Vice Classic should holsters looks the best when when wearing a suit and tie.   I think  the real reason everyone is moving towards pocket carry as an option is there is really very little discomfort for every day carry.

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TruSpec pants in stock

We are now a stocking dealer for most of the TruSpec 24/7 Series which was brought about by customer feedback.   There aren’t many companies that have done very well in the clothing business over the last couple years and it’s very well know that a few companies have already fizzled out.   There has been an increase in quality clothing from many brands so there is no way we would claim that one company is better than the other.  5.11 tactical is a monster of a company and is #1 in many things, but Glock still doesn’t outsell all of the competition because sometimes people just want something else.

TruSpec from Atlanco does more military apparel than Eotac or Woolrich does and expands our product line into a whole new market.   Also, these tactical pants are Gunny approved and featured by the NRA.   The reality of the tactical clothing market is simple this, the customer will determine what is good based on quality and pricing.   Plenty of people refuse to spend more than $30 on a pair of pants, but people doing the hardwork and every day use of clothing will gladly spend $50 or more for a good pair of pants.

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3 suggestions for the 7 day CCW holder

If you are a 24/7 concealed carry holder you probable already know most of this, but there are always new carriers that can use the advice and avoid discomfort and irritation.  I like many before me stared out carrying a 1911 45acp and felt well armed, but after several years of either bruising myself or having a holster fail, it was time to move to something smaller.   The 1911 is actually a very good gun for CCW because it is very thin and not really as heavy as some of the other 45acp guns.   The Springfield XD is probable the second most popular firearm but that thing is a tank when loaded to capacity.

I have many friends that have carried the 1911 in the small of their back, but to me this is something that can cause grave injury.   The whole tactical pants market is absolutely flooded to capacity, but there is no reason that with an elastic waistband, you should be able to carry a gun at 3 or 9 o’clock.   If you can carry a gun on a paddle holster you can usually get away with carrying a larger firearm, IWB is for thinner guns depending on your body type but that usually means a single stack firearm.  And then there is always pocket carry and  thing is by far the most comfortable way of carrying.

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Desantis Instruder vs the Galco Kingtuk

I think the pocket holster accessory and clothing options have gotten much better in 2011 than before.    Everyone is starting to realize that concealed carry means not being able to tell that someone is carrying a firearm.   Besides printing and wearing 5.11 tactical pants, there are plenty of ways people will eventually be able to profile you and know how you are carrying a firearm.  Bumping into people is one way that you really can’t hide your 1911 and raising your arms up at work or in a super market is something you just can’t always avoid.

Good Concealment means being able to wear regular clothing and not have to always go out there and find out what Woolrich, Blackhawk, TruSpec, 5.11 or whomever else is something out that is marketed is CCW friendly.   White collar jobs make concealed carry harder and being able to tuck your shirt in and hide a firearm just got easier, Galco holsters are still some of my favorite but Desantis Instruder has a slight edge over it my book.  These are designed for smaller firearms which is more practical and realisic.

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Winter CCW Shirt Options

There have been several occasions at this time of  year where I’ve walked out of the house and into the freezing cold Winter temperatures and had on a sweatshirt and jacket.  By the time the car warmed up and I was on my way, I had to turn the car temperature all the way back down because it got too warm.  When I got to the mall to start my Christmas shopping, I was so darn hot that I was stopping to buy a drink and feel very uncomfortable.  This is one of the biggest problems the whole concealed carry jacket market seems to forget.

If you’ve dressed with a holster that is outside the waiste and you were intending to have the gun covered by the jacket, you’ll have problems.   The best advice I would have is to wear a base layer like Under armour and a heavy shirt like the Woolrich Elite CCW shirts like the Oxford long sleeve.  This shirt is a  long sleeve shirt that gives you an out layer to wear over a firearm and still carry flashlights, knives ect in the front pockets.   There is a hidden pocket behind the front pocket that is very easy to access.  If you pocket carry a j-frame, this is a great place to store a reload or pepper spray.

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