Category Archives: Gear

Mora Companion

There’s not a lot to say about the Morakniv family.   This one is the Companion.  It’s an exceptionally simple knife with a well-shaped handle with a nice surface that lends to a good grip and feel in the hand.  The blade looks like something found on a Steakhouse table.  I’ve never owned a Mora before and considered them a slight step up from Dollar General Cutlery.   Continue reading Mora Companion

Killer Deal on the SIG ROMEO 4c

romeo4c1I just got another Romeo 4c, and this one is now topping Project Kahlan.   The Burris Fastfire, which I also like, has been moved over to Elizebeta… my late Brother Zach’s AK-47.  The Fastfire is better suited to the AK, thanks to it’s more compact nature and lower mounting capability with the current rail situation.    (Photos will come late)

What I like about the 4c version of the Romeo, is the Solar Powered backup to for the battery, which has a 50,000 hour run time.  It has two reticle options, a 2 moa Dot or an Eotech style circle dot.  Quick Detach.  Insane lifetime warranty that is basically saying if anything happens, they’ll replace it, no questions asked.  Which is awesome.

The optic is super clear and bright for a Red Dot, and even with my bad eyes, I can see the dot nice and crisp.   I like these little optics better than the vogue T1 or T2 Micros.   SIG’s Electro Optics are very good… and with that lifetime warranty?  Getting one is a No Brainer.   For Project Kahlan, and any future firearm that I want a Red Dot for – I’m getting the Romeo 4c’s for them from now on.

I got this Romeo 4c from my good friend Steve, who has several more for sale at his store, PrecisionRifleShooters.com.   Now, if you want one too… Go there, and at Checkout enter Coupon Code “MADOGRE” for a nice discount.

LUCID HD7: Buy Again?

lucidhd7g3_0433webLucid has given me a couple HD7 Red Dot units.  An original first generation unit, and then later a third generation unit.  I’ve also purchased three other Gen3’s… One as a gift and the two others for my own use.   None of these units have had any problems.   And I still have one of the Gen3’s.   It’s the one Jason gave me.  It will continue to be used on one of my family’s AR’s until it goes belly up.  Which I don’t see happening any time soon.

I’ve sold a lot of Lucid optics to other guys, and have friends that have bought a lot of them as well.  Unfortunately Lucid has fall out of favor with them due to one issue or anther.  Which is odd to me, because none of mine had ever given me a bit of trouble.  My last HD7 still works great, every time, and battery life has been outstanding.  3 weeks ago, I changed the battery in my HD7 Gen3, and realized that that was the first time I had ever had to change the battery in it.  After 4 YEARS of service.   That’s AimPoint level stuff right there.  That’s impressive.

The question though… Would I buy another HD7?

Continue reading LUCID HD7: Buy Again?

Put this in your Kit: Sunjack 14W Solar Charger.

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In my Church, I’m the Goto Guy for Emergency Preparation.  Officially.   It’s my job in the church to know and teach this stuff.  CNET even reached out to me for information about EP and what they need to keep their Tech going in the case something bad happened… like their power went out.  Or they had to go outside.

I wish I had this before CNET talked to me… Because I’d have just said “Get a Sunjack”.

Continue reading Put this in your Kit: Sunjack 14W Solar Charger.

Gear Review: Exos-Gear Bravo Pack

I’ve not heard of Exos-Gear before, and I don’t personally know the owner or designer or anyone at the company… So this review is completely without any built in bias.  I’ve been looking for a good Tactical Pack to ungrade from my little Drago Pack that I used as an EDC laptop and work bag.  Mainly it packs my laptop, various tech accessories I need, and a notepad and pens.   And it’s a carrier for some spare handgun magazines and a couple blades.  But really that’s about all it can carry.  If I was going to go Adventure I needed something more capable.  From what I’ve seen online, the EXOS-GEAR’s BRAVO packs seemed like a perfect solution, so I had to try it out.   And I’m glad I did.  This is a solid pack.

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One thing I like about this pack is that it’s light weight for it’s size. It’s also simple and everything is straight forward and easy to understand. You don’t need a Manual for this pack.
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One important aspect of a good pack, is it’s ability to actually be a Pack and not a glorified Shoulder Bag. The straps are sturdy and well padded. In testing and some actual use as a pack… it’s comfortable, even when carrying a good amount of weight.
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The Hydration compartment carries a Camelback bladder perfectly, and away from main compartment contents.
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The Hydration system’s tube can feed through the inner port, and out this covered port that can is otherwise velcro’ed closed. Just one of the details that I appreciate. They actually thought things through. That’s impressive.
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This pack expands as needed, going from a regular Day-Pack to a full on RUCK Mode. It also has enough Molle Webbing to easily attach other bags and such to fit most any mission requirement.
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The Main Compartment is cavernous. Several pairs of jeans, battle-kilts, and socks… whatever you need for a proper adventure… be it a weekend from home, business trip, camping, a week at SHOT SHOW, or hunting Orc. You can fit it in here.
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The Secondary Compartment is also large enough for a good laptop. School books. Your sniper Dope-Book. The built in pouches work great for holding spare magazines.
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The Tertiary compartment is good for knives, compass, GPS, pens… it’s big enough for all sorts of gear. A Pocket Holster fits in there, allowing for a great secondary handgun carrier.

It’s really easy to say that this is a great pack for the money… Because this is NOT an expensive pack.  In fact… It’s cheap.  It’s less than $40 bucks.  But saying that it’s a great pack for the money really doesn’t do it justice.  It’s a great pack.  Period.  The fact that it’s Un-Expensive is just a total bonus.

If I had any complaint about the pack, it would be that I’d have liked more area for moto-patches.  Just because I like patches.   There’s a spot for patches on each side, but not on the face of the pack as I’d have liked to have seen.  But that’s a small complaint and really a Non-Issue because I’ve never seen a mission critical patch before.
Having got one just to try out – I’m going to be ordering a few more for my Sons, because they need some good packs too.   The other option I was looking at was literally double the money for a pack that is no better.  So I’m pleased with this one.

The Bravos Series packs – and Exos-Gear makes a more Urban one – comes in some other colors.  Black, OD-Green, and Grey, as well as the Coyote Tan as pictured.  Order one Here.

Specifications:

  • Liters: 34L, 2073 CU in. Capacity when measured in accordance with Standard ASTM F2153
  • Inner Main Compartment: 18″ x 10″ x 5″
  • Inner Secondary Compartment: 16″ x 9″ x 3″
  • Outer Top Compartment: 5″ x 8″ x 3″
  • Outer Bottom Compartment: 10″ x 8″ x 3″
  • Material: 600D Polyester
  • Double-Stitched Grab Handle
  • Heavy Duty Zippers and Utility-Style Cord Pulls
  • Side and Front Load Compression System
  • Ventilated Mesh Padding for Strap & Back Area
  • Durable Polymer Buckles & Anchors

A Fisking

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The Havok Journal posted a whine about the gun industry that required some gentle fisking.   I’ve not heard of it before… but it bounced around my Social Medias a bit and caught my attention.

Since around 2008, the firearm industry has taken a dramatic turn.  It hasn’t exploded like some predicted after the presidential elections.

Actually, yes.  It did.  Retail Firearm Sales went through the roof.  So much so that dealers and distributors were emptied of product for years.   To this day, supply of some products has still not caught back up to demand.  Such as .22 Long Rifle ammunition.

Continue reading A Fisking

Lubes

TFB reports that Froglube is Coconut Oil.
Fireclean is Canola Oil.
zMax is Mineral Oil.
Other lubes are petroleum oils.
Other lubes are synthetic oils.
Or oil blends.

Here’s my take:   Use whatever product that you feel works best for you.   If you like Frog Lube, use the Froglube.  Just because someone ballparks what the base oil is doesn’t negate the fact that the oil had been doing what it says it does and has worked well for you.  Nothing’s changed.
Yes, zMax is based on a mineral oil.   No, you are not going to get the same results using baby oil from the grocery store.  Why not?  Because the company took that mineral oil and ran it through some more refining processes and changed it.
Same with Frog Lube.  That’s not just plain coconut oil.  They added some components to it to take away the delicious flavor for one thing.  Trust me.   They also did something to make it smell like Kermit’s Ass.  And to keep it from congealing at lower than room temperature.   Coconut oil might be the base, but it no longer acts like it.  Trust me – My wife and I use Coconut oil for all kinds of things.  It’s great stuff.
The Fireclean though, I will not use any more.   Not even on my knives.   Not because it’s Canola… But because it gets sticky.  One of the shotguns I changed the stocks on, I had lubed generously with Fireclean… a year ago.  I’ve not worked with that gun since then.  You know what I found?
An action that did not want to move.
It was gummed up like it was full of pine pitch.    It took me about 3 Pink Floyd songs to clean it up and lube it with Breakfree CLP.
BREAKFREE!   I hate Breakfree!

So I’m not using Fireclean anymore because of the results, not the materials.  But yes, the materials did contribute to extended results here.

Still… Use whatever you like.  Just use it.   Because even if your choice of oil sucks – it’s a hell of a lot better than no oil.  And that’s a fact.

Strikers and Soft Holsters – A Negligent Combination

We see articles like THIS (Warning: Link shows a gnarly wound on a bloke’s arse) from time to time.  Where a fellow was wearing his gun in his holster and there was an Accidental Discharge.  I’m not calling in Negligent, because the people were generally not doing anything wrong…. Accidents CAN happen, though they are Rare.  99% of the time it is Negligence, but not here.  More on this in a moment…

This sort of an accident almost always involve two things:
1.  A striker fired pistol.
2.  A generic fit soft holster.  Most of the time made of Neoprene or Nylon, but also sometimes of some form of softer leather.

This is a bad combination, a Striker in a Soft Holster.  If this is your carry combo – I would recommend you change it because I believe that it’s dangerous.  Flat out dangerous.   Also dangerous are the use of Minimalist Holsters… any holster that covers only the trigger guard, or strives to be as small and light as possible.    Some of these holsters can break during use, some can let objects get into the trigger guard…. and none of them protect the gun in any way, shape, or form.
There was one guy getting into a car wearing his Striker in a softer type leather holster where the holster its self rolled into the guard so when he sat down, it discharged.  Another guy just leaned against a counter and it went off.  So yes – these guns can “Just Go Off” when you are packing a Striker in a Soft Holster and you are not paying attention.
Really I’m coming to the opinion that if you do pack a Striker fired gun in a Soft Holster – or a Minimalist Type Holster – You are being Negligent.   There is no valid reason in my mind to do so.  You are either too cheap to buy a decent holster, too ignorant to look for something better, or you are packing something different enough that there are no other holster options out there.  Which makes me think maybe you shouldn’t be packing it yet.

GET GOOD GEAR.  A Holster is a crucial part of your Weapon System and if you don’t have a good holster – then yeah – Your ass is Negligent.