Cheap Kydex.

I really don’t get how some guys can get all worked up over cheap kitchen table made Kydex holsters that are the size and shape of the spade end of an Entrenching Tool, or a License Plate. To make them more hipster, some guys are putting optional accessories on them to dress them up. I’ve seen Star Wars character faces, facial hair and eye wear options.  I’m not kidding.  I find that to be comical. And sad.
A holster should be just a holster. It holds the gun in a ready position until you need it. And you should be able to forget about it until that very moment. And when you do need it, you shouldn’t have to think about the holster at all. A holster in this regard, should be like your Pants. Easy deployed and ejected in an easy and rapid fashion, and be comfortable enough that you are not reminded constantly that you are wearing them.

Government Shut Down.

The only problem I see with a Government Shut Down is that they well eventually Re-Open.

If the Government shuts down – all the Congressmen should have to pay for their own flights home.  One way.  And their .Gov Credit Cards should be Cancelled.

The Military should still get paid, but other than that – Let it all shut down.

 

Top 10 New Cars I’d kill to Own

Since the NSA is reading everything I write, this is The List.  If our Government needs someone wacked, buy me a Warehouse, someplace secluded, near Wilmington, NC, and park one of Each in it for me.  Licensed and Insured for Life, and I’ll go Terminator on any target in any country:

10.  Porsche Cayman S.   Probably Porsche’s best sports car they have ever made.

9.  Cadillac CTS-V.  Cadillac’s middle finger to BMW.  It’s beautiful, powerful, handles like a tactical weapon, and the only downsides according to Top Gear is that it’s not British.

8.  Ford F-150 4 Door RAPTOR.  Because brute force needs to be all terrain sometimes.

7.  Mazda  Mazdaspeed3.  The 2.5 Liter version, with a manual.  I like the Hot Hatch category of cars, and remember with fondness the VW GTI I once had. However the new Golf GTI’s are sad and don’t have that edgy seat of the pants feel.  The Mazdaspeed3 does.  I think it’s the best looking of the hot hatch bunch too.

6.  Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport, with a Supercharged 510-hp 5.0-liter V-8.   It does everything very well, it’s fast, and it looks down it’s nose at all other SUV’s.  And it’s one of the coolest looking SUV’s I’ve ever seen.

5.  Audi RS7.  The straight up pissed off version of the A7.  Twin Turbo, V-8 in the most powerful sedan Audi will let us Americans buy.  And it’s the best looking Audi I’ve ever seen.  I saw one in Wilmington and it was like a vision of power and glory.  It slid past me on the highway like it was a shark on land.

4.  Ford Mustang GT500.  Part of me has always loved the Mustang’s looks.  I find faults with them as well, some faults I’ve not been able to overcome, but the latest GT500 cross the line and it’s become one of those cars that has to go on this list.  Steven McQueen would have this car.

3.   Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT.  Because Hemi.  It’s a Hot Rod.  Its fast and angry and sexy as hell and apologetically so.

2.  Subaru BRZ.  One of the most True Sports Cars ever made.  I would have to have an extra 10 grand for upgrades, because it has a lot of potential that is waiting to be tapped.

1.  The Corvette Stingray.  I’ve always disliked the Corvettes for one reason or another.  But the latest Stingray just does everything so Spot On.  It’s performance and styling are on point, but more than any other Vette, the interior is done right now too.  If you could image sitting in a Space Fighter – that’s the Vette.  The dream of the Flying Cars in the 50’s is realized in the Stingray.

It’s really hard to do JUST a Top 10.  So I’m going to add a couple that are default and not negotiable.  

Chevy SS.  Basically an imported Holden from Oz.  Nothing wrong with that is the formula works.  Simple car, huge engine.  This is the modern iteration of the classic Muscle Car, done well.  I love the new 2014 Impala, but it lacks the vigor that the name plate should have.  This however, has some of the same styling touches that I liked about the Impala, used those and then stuffed it with power, insanity, and malice.  This car should be a Police Car is about 4 months from now… It has more room than the popular Chargers which actually make for very poor police cars due to the lack of room inside.  Ford’s SHO is nice, but it’s front wheel drive.  The SS just might be the last of the big american V-8 up front, turning the wheels at the back… The last of the American Muscle Cars.

A Unimog.  In a 4 Door van configuration.  Like this, for example.  This would probably be my Zombi Apocalypse rig.  Able to roll over and through just about anything out there. Just the big “frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” approach to any situation that doesn’t require going fast.  It’s available in just about any configuration, for any job that has you going away from pavement.  Or rational thought.  It’s the AK-47 of Trucks.

 

Kenya & Evil

Like many of us, I watched the reports and read the articles, and looked at the photos of the Islamic Atrocity in Kenya.

I was going to write a scathing open letter to Islam, calling for peace.  I’ve thought about this all day.  How I was going to illustrate how Islam’s fundamentalists lead to hatred and extremism, and fosters violence in the fervent, the ignorant and the enthusiastic.  The more I thought about it, the more hopeless the effort became, because it would fall not on deaf ears, but ears that choose not to hear.  Ears on the heads that have already decided.

I am reminded of Matthew Chapter 7, Verse 16.  I’ll link to a wider translation, than just the King James version which I prefer. Also, Luke 6:44.

These actions are happening for a purpose, for a reason.  They are fulfilling the goals for which they are directed. These are people who are being lead to do evil, by evil.  Because their fruits are obvious.

Top 10 movies that need to be made.

10.  At the Mountains of Madness. By HP Lovecraft.   Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.
9.  The Black Library’s “Horus Heresy” series.  The first 5 books. Directed by James Cameron
8.   Man Kzin Wars.  By Larry Niven.  Directed by JJ Abrams.
7.  Stephen King’s The Gunslinger.  Directed by Quinton Terantino.
6.  Starship Troopers.   This time, following the book. Directed by Micheal Mann.
5.  Larry Niven’s Ringworld.  Directed by Ridley Scott
4. The Iron Druid series.  Directed by Stephen Speilberg
3.  Monster Hunter International.  Directed by Joss Whedon
2.  The Grimnoir Chronicles.  Directed by Bryan Singer
1. The Uprising Saga.  Directed by Tony Scott

Top Ten Guns used in Crime

According to Time Magazine:

1. Smith and Wesson .38 revolver
2. Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic
3. Lorcin Engineering .380 semiautomatic
4. Raven Arms .25 semiautomatic
5. Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun
6. Smith and Wesson 9mm semiautomatic
7. Smith and Wesson .357 revolver
8. Bryco Arms 9mm semiautomatic
9. Bryco Arms .380 semiautomatic
10. Davis Industries .380 semiautomatic

I find this all very interesting about what is On and Not on this list.  In my experience, Hi-Points are also highly used, as are Cobra and Charter Arms.  Also, the guns that are not on the list according to the News:  AR-15’s, AK-47’s, and Glocks.   Now, crime according to the Movies and TV:  AR-15’s, AK-47’s, Uzi’s, Desert Eagles, Mac-10’s, Nickle Plated 1911’s, HK P-7’s, and Walther P99’s.

The reality of guns used in actual crimes are that they tend to be cheap, and they tend to be stolen.  S&W revolvers in .38 to .357, this report is as specific as saying “Ford Truck”… You are talking about the most common longest continually made double action revolver on the planet that’s been manufactured since 1908 with the first Hand-Ejector model. That’s over, by my math, a hundred years of constant production.  They are going to be out there in some numbers.   A brand new full sized S&W 686+ is not a cheap gun, MSRP is $849.00.  But I doubt that criminals are sporting a brand new gun.  Not unless they stole it in a home invasion.

Top Ten Guns I Hate: Pistols

10.  The S&W Sigma.   A direct attempt at copying Glock.  Who’s idea was this anyways?  Who thought that it was a good idea to copy Glock so closely the first versions you could even swap parts?  They did a pretty good job to… They got everything right… save for the quality and not knowing what a decent trigger is supposed to feel like.  They were crap then, and only until the last iteration now called the “SD Series” is it even half decent.  Which brings me to #9.

9.  The S&W SD Series.  Trying to make the Sigma into a half decent gun, they’ve almost gone close enough to the M&P  That it makes me scratch my head.  Who are they competing with now?  Drop the SD’s and the Sigmas all together, and lower the cost of the M&P by deleting unnecessary milling processes by giving it normal straight slide serrations and simpler slide geometry like on the SD while keeping the quality high like the rest of the M&P series.  Done.  You’ll be a better price point and you are no longer competing against yourself.   The SD may seem to be filling a nitch, but it really isn’t anymore.  It’s more money than that the cheaper guns, still has the Sigma Stigma, so buyers are just confused about it and either go cheaper or just get an M&P.  Couldn’t give those things away as a Retailer.

8.  Taurus.  Anything Taurus.  This whole list could be just the Taurus Product Catalog, but that’s too easy.  So I’m just going to say “Taurus”.  I’m not a Dealer anymore so I don’t have to make allowances or mince words about them.  The only thing half decent from them are better made by S&W and Beretta.  I know they are growing and trying hard and getting better, but they are not there yet.

7.   CZ P-07 Duty.  It’s ugly.  It’s awkward.  The CZ-100 looked cooler and should have been improved.  “This is a P-01 with plastic frame”, no it isn’t.  Because a P-01 doesn’t look like a Hi Point got drunk and fucked a Baby Eagle with Down Syndrome. I hate the trigger guard, the trigger pull and the sights.  If there is anything good to be said about the P-07 Duty, is that you can’t hurt it’s feelings when you throw it off a bridge from the center span.

6.  Ruger LCR.  A Plastic framed revolver.  W. T. F.  Take something traditional, and make it bite a pillow.  For what gain?  What’s the point?  To make it lighter?  Take an SP101 and make it out of a light weight alloy like Smith & Wesson and even Taurus does with the classic J Frame.  They figured it out, why can’t Ruger?  Come on Ruger, Make an Air Light SP-101.  Put some effort in it.  Instead you phoned it in with a Polymer frame that looks like you made it on a 3D Printer after drinking too much Wild Turkey and staring too long at an HK VP70 and then watching Blade Runner with one hand down your pants.

5.  The SIG 2022.  You want a SIG, but you don’t want to pay for one.  So you get this runt of the litter pick that only has one step below it on the SIG ladder, the P-250… you don’t want that, you want a “Real SIG” as I’ve heard said from behind the gun counter so many times I now have an involuntary eye roll when I hear “SIG 2022”.  While it’s not really a bad gun, it’s just the weird way they made the grips.  They couldn’t sack up and just make a decent grip like other guys, they have to just have interchangeable grips like all the cool guys do… But they could do it like that, they had to make the whole grip frame into two pieces like they just gave up and the end of the design day so it’s like a Stephen King book that’s good until the last chapter when King says “Fuck it” and let’s his Editor finish the ending for him.

4.  The XD.  Sure, it’s a good pistol, functionally.  But it’s dated and now eclipsed by the new XDM series which not only looks better but is better in capacity, trigger and accuracy.  Leaving the base XD’s in the Springfield line up is like Ford leaving the Mustang II in the line up as a low cost alternative to a new Mustang GT.

3.  Kahr’s CW Series.  Horrible patterning and molding on a gun that could be so much better.  The guns themselves are full of good potential but Kahr cheaped out on them so hard that it’s laughable.  The actions are about as smooth as Hillary Clinton’s thighs, while being about the same weight.  It’s impossible to drop the slides using the lever, which is about as sharp edged as a new CRKT knife – and I hate CRKT knives too.  For the price of 399, the gun might hit that “I’m cheap enough to buy on a whim” price, the fact that you can’t even throw in a spare mag makes the CW’s laughable.  And then the price of the upper scale P series is even more laughable considering they look virtually identical.  Find some Middle Ground, make the CW smoother, throw in that second magazine.  The trick to selling a CW is to make sure they don’t try to handle it.  Because they will try to pull the slide back, and then try to release the slide again… at which point the customer fails and and asks to look at the Stoeger Cougar.  Sure it will protect you, but it will also hurt you… leaving the only people who like the CW’s as Domination Mistresses and guys who talk like they’ve had repeated concussions.

2.  I was going to say The Judge here, but I’ll just leave that in the junk pile of #8 and move on to the Hi Point.  However the Hi-Point its self is what it is and remains a self defense value.  If it was food, it would be the burger off the Dollar Menu at McDonalds.  They are cheap.  Crappy, but cheap.  And they work pretty good, for what you paid for it.  But what makes it something that raises my lip into a Billy Idol Snear is the hordes of People Of Walmart who come out of Wal-Zone to defend the Hi-Point, yelling their one toothed yells of how good they are.  I’ve watched 4 of them self destruct in the hands of the owners while shooting.  Spontaneous Self Destruction, or Self Field Stripping… I can’t tell if this is a Bug or a Feature.   Next time someone tells you a High Point is good, ask them to Field Strip it for you.  Piece Of Shit.  For 130 bucks for a self defense tool to ride in a tool box, man, it’s fine for that.  For something to be actually used from time to time – Buy a good tactical folding knife.  You’ll get more mileage out of it.

1.  Kimber Ultra.  Any Kimber Ultra sized 1911.  Ultra Carry, Ultra CDP, whatever it is, it’s going to look nice, but not actually work.  Attractive and Useless… like Half the population of California, Blackberries, and Super Models that don’t speak English.  They are also expensive.   I can’t tell where the pride in ownership of a Kimber Utra CDP comes from, but it must be like owning a Prius.  You have an expensive, nice looking gun that is too good for the rest of us peasants that actually want a tool to be functional.  That’s fine.  You can look down your nose at my pedestrian Glocks, or my son’s M&P… but we can at least get through a day long shooting course without praying to Kimber that the gun finish a Magazine without Jamming.

 

I really like this.

946737_10201372112158183_1663813155_nI really like this.  This is a G-Code OSH holster, which is enough right there to be like “I’m down with that.”  But what makes this one interesting is that it’s Gray Kydex that’s been stained/dyed black on the surface to leave a Pattern.  Pretty much any logo or design you want within 1 color limits.
The stain is soaked into the kydex so it’s very tough any only deep scratches will dig down to the gray substrate.  Which means you can rock this rig for years and that design will still be there.

We are looking at how possible it would be do offer this as a production option, with the logistics and costs. I think this is cool as hell, but logistically a nightmare to set up.  There are also technical issues to overcome within the web store for allowing a limited number of any one item to be sold.  I’ve got it all figured out, but need to come up with a way to test it to make sure it works right without screwing everything up.

HSGI M24P Day Pack

20130920_111901

Our friends at High Speed Gear gave Jesse one of their new M24P Day Packs to try out. He’s been using it for a few weeks now and is impressed. Tough zippers that don’t get hung up. Tough stitching everywhere. Handle and and straps that are anchored solid. Very well constructed pack. Molle where Molle is useful. Patch area up top for Motopatches. Good size for every day use without being too small, big enough for what you need for a day. Great pack. Hung my 92FS on it using a GCA87 and an OSH-RTI holster. Carried it just fine… Did that to test the weight bearing. I could see putting all sorts of stuff on there. Extra pouches or medkit. Set it up for what you need for fast access.

20130920_112127
From the Web Store:

High Speed Gear is proud to introduce our new M24P Day Pack. HSGI simplified and refined this design from their original “Moose” pack line. The design provides a basic, but incredibly tough pack that retains features capable of meeting the needs of military personal, law enforcement officers, and civilians alike.

The M24P is large enough to carry sustainment gear, extra ammunition, medical supplies and other gear for a rapid deployment, but is small enough to provide versatile storage options. The internal compartment has 2 large mesh pockets that can fit a large armor plate.

Dimensions: 14.50”L x 10”W x 5″D
Volume: 725 Cubic Inches
Fits up to 10″x12″ armor plate
1000D Construction

Made in USA
HSGI Lifetime Warranty

Get one HERE.