Archive for July, 2012

Short sleeve ccw options, check out Woolrich Elite

When summer rolls around it’s usually time to put the full size auto away and switch over to your compacts and smaller frame guns.  The Hawaiian shirt thing doesn’t work for skinny guys and I’m sure we’ve all seen the movies where the undercover narcotics officers are wearing them.  The bad guys know you have a gun tucked in there and they probable won’t be surprised to see the muscular and fit guy with the shirt and sunglasses is a narcotics officer. After that, if you don’t wear an untucked t-shirt you’re probable going to end up having to pocket carry.

Everyone of the tactical clothing companies has it’s pros and cons and some of the fit and designs are really just personal tastes.   The one company we’ve been very impressed with when it comes to CCW shirts are the Woolrich Elite CCW Shirts especially the short sleeve ones for this time of year.   I personally have been very happy with my ability to pocket carry a j-frame, tuck a shirt in and still be able to pack a Streamlight tactical flashlight and my gerber pocket knife all in my ccw shirt.   I’ve seen a few of the Blackhawk and 5.11 attempts at making tactical shirts but they just didn’t work for me.

 

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Glocks the unshethed knife

I remember when Glocks started showing up in Law Enforcement agencies and people were claiming that they were more dangerous than previous firearms that were issued.  Supposedly they were sold as not having a safety and from what I saw, yes, I actually did see more accidents over a course of a year when they first were issued.  Now that Glock pistols have decades long experience you can’t argue with something that obviously works and work well.  The military issued sidearm the Beretta 92 or M9 as it is called defanitely is not  up to what the Glock can do and by watching what military contractors are using.

The Glock trigger safety really should not be called a safety because it does not work like a traditional safety at all.   It is more of an accidental discharge prevention safety but a top selling Safariland holsters with the ALS system are the reason we refer to the Glock as an unsheethed knife.   If a Glock is put in a retention holster it is like sword that has been sheethed.  There are always trade offs with firearms but it truely is an out of the box point and shoot sidearm.  Love them or hate them, they work, and work well

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Wearing out firearm is normal

People in this community are always looking for something that doesn’t break or wear out or is tougher than all of the others.   When we move away from the weekend warriors with their $2000 AR15 that they keep clean and probable wash and wax in their driveway in a bathing suit.  Guys that put serious time in on the range will be the best ones to tell you how well things hold up and which parts or guns are better than others.  There has been much discussion about this issue between direct impingement and gas piston AR15s and how much wear the bolt carrier groups  have and there are differences.

I remember seeing Eric Clapton with his worn out guitars and wondering why he would use something so beat up, Eric Clapton knew that if you played guitar long enough things would wear out but the instrument did the job.   When you buy your Glock pistol and the Glock Factory barrels wear out, you should view that as an achievement  and not something to be critical about for your firearm.   Some guns absolutely do not last as long as others, but the life span of gun does vary.   Some AR15 designs only lasted about 7000 rds while others now are 4x’s these days.

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Over thinking concealment holsters

We’ve had a few people stop in and ask us if they can try out some of our holsters and we don’t mind that at all.  Many times people spend too much trying to get a product to adapt to them when they really need to think about adapting to it.  There is nothing wrong about customizing accessories and gear to you, but sometimes people spend too much time thinking about.  Take for instance a grip accessory on a firearm like an AR15, if you don’t like the position, you just unscrew it and move it. If you can’t figure out if it fits your hand, then you’re overthinking it, we see that all the time.

When people make the decision to carry a firearm, they are taking on many responsibilities unless you want to carry the smallest firearm possible expect a level of discomfort.  When people need a quick and easy decision about a gun holster we point them towards Fobus holsters unless they are looking for an inside the waistband option.   Fobus paddle  holsters are easy on, off holsters and great for full size or duty guns.   A good companion to any gun holster is  a good belt like the Blackhawk Pistol Belts or the Wilderness instructor belts.

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Finding a comfortable shirt that holds up to wear

I was never a big fan of tactical clothing up until about 2008 and I had lots of experience with 5.11 tactical gear and Woolrich Elite products.  5.11 tactical pants have a well known reputation as being the leading tactical pant that everything else is compared to.  Quality from t he behemoth of a company has absolutely waned and it is obvious that people were looking for something more.  While the tactical pants market is pretty much bottle up, the tactical shirt market is wide open.  I personally think there are more opportunities to make a better shirt than ever before.

Most tactical shirts feel like a uniform and are not very comfortable to wear.  The only tactical shirts that I really still like are the Woolrich Elite 44901 short sleeve tactical shirts.  These have a vented back and have a very loose feel.  They had a great shirt called the zip up instructor shirt but for some odd reason it was discontinued.   It was basically the same shirt as the 44901 but had a zip up shirt with false buttons which made it look like  a regular tactical shirt but great for hot weather or even for wearing over a shoulder rig.

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Avoid the liability of using a firearm in self defense

Make sure you carry a less leathal weapon and there’s a very good chance you can avoid the legal ramifications of using a firearm.  I’m in no way saying that you shouldn’t carry a gun to protect yourself, but for even more insurance carrying different levels of self defense is a very good idea.  Just look at what moden law enforcement officers carry.  Cops don’t like pulling guns on drugged up teenagers nor do they want to have to pull weapons on groups of people that are unarmed.  This always looks bad on TV even thought the good citizen feels that bodily harm is just around the corner.

I have had my fair share of bad experiences with criminals and I have to tell you that carrying pepper spray is a very good thing.  If a 13yr kid gets worked up and starts threatening you, you don’t want to be the gun on TV that shot a kid 20yrs younger than you and is half your body mass.  We carry much of the Sabre Defense Pepper Sprays and these are also the same products that we sell to law Enforcement Officials.   Reactions to pepper sprays can be different depending on the individual you are dealing with and not all pepper sprays are anywhere near the same.  We have had several requests for FOX sprays and are looking to carry that line as well.

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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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