Archive for February, 2013

Emergency Food supplies and paranoia

wise food storageThere is a balance that needs to be achieved in the firearms and gun owner industry and we all have seen extreme personalities in it.  I know people that only own a few firearms but are very responsible citizens and others that got their first handgun and they scare the hell out of me.   You never know what people keep in their home and the notion that you have many firearms doesn’t mean you are waiting for the end of the world to come.  To this day I never understood people that think they need to stockpile food and weapons awaiting the return of Jesus, I thought It meant something else, but enough with that, there is a better reason to always be prepared.

Here in the Northeastern United States, we learned that Hurricanes can and do hit us and  this is not a Louisiana problem.   Having enough food like long term storage items like the Wise food storage is something that any family should consider keeping around.  Just for nutrition and the the “what ifs’ that usually do occur a few times in someones life time.   Some of the paramilitary organizations like the Boy Scouts of American have the motto of always be prepared, well, why wouldn’t you want to do that?

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Weapon mounted lights, handguns, shotguns and Carbines

streamlight flashlights I’m looking at all of the new lights that are coming out in 2013 and I can’t believe the changes that are taking place.  We had a customer that recently told us they picked up a 500 lumen Streamlight flashlight from another dealer and mounted it on their new M4 rifle.  At first I was thinking it would probable be a $500 flashlight and it turned out it was an $80 Streamlight flashlight.  I seriously don’t understand how the heck people can justify some of the flashlights that Surefire and some others have made and I think their is going to be a blood bath in the industry when these new and improved versions of lights hit the market.  I remember the Surefire G2 being a staple for AR15 rifles but not anymore.

I never had much interest in the Streamlight TLR-1S flashlight because I’m not a police officer and and don’t need to carry a large auto on daily patrols.   We have a clear out of the older models of Streamlight flashlights for sale in our Broomall, Pennsylvania showroom so stop in if you want to get some really good deals.  There are still customers that want to smaller Micro-stream AA battery flashlights because they are small and compact and are very EMT and Paramedic friendly.  There are a few guys that run car repair shops and also use various flashlights just so they can in and see the hard to reach stuff.

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Some new observations about tactical pants after a plane trip

Blackhawk tactical pantsThis year I had to do some business trips and I was in and out of cars, hotels, motels and airplanes for several days.   I had the new gunny boot cut tactical pants with me, Woolrich Elite Series Tactical Chinos, Tru-Spec 24/7 pants, and the Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants with me.  I figured this would  be a good time to force myself to try them out because normally I don’t like to switch up my gear.   I always had a flashlight with me and if I wasn’t wearing the Tru-Spec pants I had to find another way of keeping track of where it was so I knew it was always there when I needed it and knew that it didn’t fall off or get lost.

Well, after a long plane trip, I was won over by one of my lease worn tactical pants and that’s because I found the pocket placements to be very useful for what I was doing at the time.   The 65%/35% polycotton ripstop pants from Tru-Spec were very similar to the Blackhawk tactical pants that I was wearing on the plane trip but the leg pockets with the sidezip were very useful while being in the seated position.  I used these pockets for tickets for my flights and it was much easier to access than my hand pockets.  I never really thought about this until I was sitting there drinking a beer and was about to check what time my next flight was.

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Training your eyes for something other than crosshairs?

Trijicon TA31F-G for saleI started out with iron sights on a 22LR rifle and then shot out of an optic with crosshairs of varying sizes for decades.  I always thought the TA01 was a cool optic because it had the range calibration reticles which makes this a fast medium range combat optic.   Even though these guns loose a lot of energy by the time they get out to 600yds, they still are deadly, and hits are better than misses.   Red dots were the next thing although I was never really a huge fan of them.  I was a better shooter than the red dot would allow me to be, but then I finally discovered the Eotech gun sights.  The gun sights on these make fast engagements.

Later I got to hold a few of the TA31 optics, primarily the green reticle chevron versions, and they looked really odd to me.  I later asked a Rep from Trijicon if he could explain to me how the Trijicon TA31F-G for sale are used.   Primarily the top of the Chevron is for 100yds, the Chevron has a hollow center for body shots out to 200yds and the first pole point is 300 yards.   After that it’s pretty self explanitory on how to use this optic at medium ranges.  The real issue with shooting these optics is knowing how they are sighted in and knowing that you are going to get good use out of it.  Most gun ranges I know of are less than 100yds and most guys that own ACOGS never even shoot past that.

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Tactical vests for range use and for low profile LEO’s

Woolrich Elite tactical vestsWe have seen the tactical clothing market explode in the last 10yrs and have seen companies come and go.   Some of the companies we sold products for were really original and well made but they just didn’t get their foot in the door and gain traction.  Some of the products were, even though well made, not easy to sell online because people wanted to hold it in their hands or try it on to make sure it fit them.  Some of the sizing issues aren’t just about chest sizing it’s also arm lengths and waist tolerances.  I have been using the Woolrich Elite 44903  tactical vest for almost 8yrs and it has very good durability and very comfortable compared to some molle vests.

The 44903 vest is a cotton canvas tactical vest and has so many  pockets that only a well organized individual won’t have problems losing his gear in it.  You will have a place for a radio, water bottles and the Woolrich Elite Series tactical vest has plenty of room to hold 4-8 magpul pmags depending on how  you stack them.  The new Gen 3 pmags are a little thinner so you will easily be able to stack on 8 magazines and even more depending on how crafty you are with your pocket usage.  The rear pocket, I find is good for elbow pads and gloves.

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Avoid the legalities and carry mace, too

Kimber Pepper blasterThere are plenty of reasons to carry some level of self defense weapons and sometimes it’s better to consider your firearm a secondary weapon and your primary as the less lethal.  Recently there was some debate about how well pepper sprays and mace work on animals and it was quite a conversion.  A person from the animal control ward came in here an mentioned that the pepper sprays were better on animals while another said that they are not good on dogs.  Some animals just become so worked up that it doesn’t really matter if they are blinded or not, they might just start barking and biting when they become blind.

The thing you need to realise about pepper sprays and mace are that it just gives you the opportunity to get away from someone, but doesn’t mean it will get them off of you.  I have strongly recommended the Kimber Pepper Blaster devices for self defense because they are shaped like a firearm and can be easily pointed after retrieving from a pocket.  The shelf live is amazing and  you get what you pay for.  No need to worry about flip tops or flip caps when deploying these.

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Emergency responses and packing your car for the “what if” situation

recon sleeping bagsSeveral years ago there was a national tragedy here in Pennsylvania where a simple snow storm caught too many people on a major highway that emergency responders were not able to get to all of them.  There were so many cars and so much snow on the ground that plowing was impossible.  People sat in their cars waiting for help as the snow piled deeper and deeper.  Something like this caught everyone off guard and there were politcal fallout from it, but, the real problem was nobody had any backup plan for this and they should have.

I’m a big fan of keeping emergency survival blankets in my car because people don’t realize that sitting in a car and idling is only going to give  you about 8-12hrs of heat and energy and then you will have lost your heat source.  Something  like the recon sleeping bags  like the recon 2 are all you need for a basic SHTF car break down where you might be better off using that an waiting for help rather than depend on your car heater keeping you warm.   The Recon 2 is so small that it hardly takes up any room  in  your trunk and is a great investment.

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Expanding our product line based upon customer feedback

Tru-Spec softshell jacketsWe are expanding our tactical clothing line towards Law Enforcement products in 2013.  We have a really good location for many of our police departments and it’s really all about logistics.   This year we have brought in some of the Tru-Spec Extreme Assault Suits which is something we really didn’t know about until we were asked to bring them in.  There are always slight functionality differences between these and other manufacturers that each department might want, but you never know until they ask for it, or walk in and ask us about them.  Having a shoulder or arm pocket that Law Enforcement can use when identifying a person or persons that have a warrant out for their arrest.

Fabric and materials really matter depending on the work you are doing.  We ran a promo on the Tru-Spec Softshell jackets this past fall and they were very popular with our customer base.  They are more useful and practical since they are a Fall and Spring jacket and give you a level of water resistance that other jackets don’t have.   Here in our parts of the Country we can get a  lot of rain in cold and warm temperatures and being able to adapt to whatever you wake up to in the morning means having a very diverse wardrobe.

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Holsters, comfort and holster and angles

fobus holstersIt was a recent discussion in our tactical store that angling a holster forward really was more about FBI guys that were sitting in their cars and didn’t want the grips to dig into their seats.   I have had some issues drawing my pistol in this angle because sometimes I’ve felt my fingers get way too close to the trigger and slip.  Roto holsters give you a little bit of flexibility and we all know how hard it is to get a holster to fit you without trying it out for awhile.   If you are in a car you may want a forward leaning angle and if you are standing most of the time a straight angle.

There have been times I carried full sized autos and if I had my Wilderness 5 stitch instructor belt on I didn’t have any issues with the weight, but with the wrong belt, it would sag.   I am a big fan of the Fobus holsters product line, and not because they are my favorite, they are the easiest and best holster to start out with.  Their paddle holsters are very inexpensive and always the first thing we sell to someone who is taking their first firearms training course.  Paddle holsters are easier to adapt to than dealing with break  in periods with far more expensive leather or customer kydex holsters.

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Always a debate when it comes to lasers and lights on firearms

crimson trace laser grips for saleThere have been many advancements on firearms and the biggest changes we have seen in the laser 2yrs are with the Flashlights we sell.  Surefire and Streamlight have had several upgrades of the same flashlights and what a G2 Flashlight is now is not anything like what it was 8yrs ago.  Battery life is also improving and this year we saw the first ever  solar/battery powered optics.  Lasers is just about everywhere now, on law enforcement lights like the TLR and the Viridian laser light combos.  I have found good use for the Crimson Trace laser grips on my smaller sidearms.s

If you have a little .380 or even a revolver the laser grips add more comfort to guns where regular sights really are really worth much.  Once you go small on a firearm the side radius isn’t going to do much more than point and shooting will and the Crimson Trace laser grips for sale are going to be a bonus.  Confidence in what you carry is very important and lasers, if trained properly, can be deployed the same way you would use a flashlight.  A constant on with a laser may not be a good idea for home defense because it can give away your position but like all devices, training to  use it properly is important.

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