Category Archives: Gear

MacBook Pro

I have turned to the Dark Side.  I acquired a MacBook Pro.  In fact, I’m using it right now.  Can’t you feel the elevated smugness?

Overall my impressions are very positive.  It’s new and shiny and mysterious.  Everything is an adventure of discovery… such as “Where the hell did my video download to?”  And “What is OSX Maverick?”  And “I keep hitting the wrong key!”  This is going to take some getting used to… but I’m digging things about it.  A lot.

Such as the fact that my Drift HD camera I was so excited about getting earlier this year, finally allows me to edit with audio.  Before, no matter what I tried, I could never get the audio track.  Seriously, the audio track disappeared.  I tried 5 or 6 different Converters to change formats and such, with no luck.  Huh, iMovie opens it, edits it, and guess what?  I can hear it.  Imagine that.  So this is going to allow me to deal with HD movies all the better.  I’m excited.

Other things about the Mac, well, I’ll learn to get used to them.  Such as a sudden desire to sip Chai Tea and sneer at Muggles.

This is the 13 inch one, because I prefer a laptop to be more compact… it has the latest OSX version on it.  An I7 Processor, and has a ton of Ram and Gigs and can basically is the envy of all the other MacBook Pro owners who does not have the latest and greatest.  Carrying it out of the store, there was bowing going on.  “Yes, you filthy masses… I have the Shiniest Apple.”

Egads, the Mac Effect is already turning me… I suddenly must go to a Starbucks, occupy a table, and roll my eyes at everyone coming in.

 

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.

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

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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.

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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.

HSP / G-Code D3 Carrier

Something wicked this way comes.

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Buy it from the most innovative and most copied holster company, G-Code.  What is it?It’s a Leg Rig. Chest Rig, Thigh Rig, Molle Rig… Whatever you need it to be it that day.  And change it the next.  No one has anything like this on the market.  But watch how they are all going to scramble to ape it.

Lucid HD7 Gen 3 FDE

I’ve tested the original Lucid HD7 and found it to be most excellent.  One thing that continues to impress me is the unit’s ability to handle recoil.  Even after much pounding on an AR, the POA/POI was not changed from when it was zeroed to where the last accurate shots were placed.  Granted this was a short test, only 300 rounds, but I’ve seen slight shifts on some other red dots in this price range.  The first Gen HD7, I beat the hell out of it on many different hard recoiling guns.  I have the impression that the Gen 3 is every bit as tough, if not tougher.   The optic I used to run on my personal AR has been an EOTECH, and has been for years.  This Lucid HD7 has replaced that Eotech.  Because of a couple advantages.  A, more precise aiming reticle and B, much longer battery life.  The Battery life really pushed it over the top for me.  Long lasting, common battery type is a WIN for me.  I only have a couple flashlights that run those Surefire 3 Volt Batteries, so I don’t buy them very often.  And when I do I usually order them or pick them up when I am in certain stores.  AA Batteries can be had anywhere, cheap, and I have them around the house.  This commonality is an advantage.  With the Lucid, I’ve never had to wait until the sporting goods store opens to get my Red Dot to power on again.  I’ve had that problem with the EoTech.

The Gen 3 version has some worthy improvements.
1. Turret Caps.
2. Better Reticle Patterns.
3. Better Clarity and Brightness.
While the price may have come up a bit on the Retail side – it didn’t come up much and it remains the best optic for an AR under $400. I’ve seen these got for as low as 219.99 and as high as 249.99.
Overall – These sights are a Win. Buy one!

Continue reading Lucid HD7 Gen 3 FDE

Holsters

The First Rule of a Gunfight is to Have A Gun.   You can own a great gun… best gun of it’s type.  You can have the best ammunition for it.  It can be customized to fit you and suit you and how you shoot.  You can be skilled with it’s use and be deadly accurate with it.   But all of that does you no good if you don’t have it on you when you need it.  If you just made a Rule 1 Violation.

In order to have that gun on you when you need it, you need to have it on you at all times.  Unless you are Precognitive regarding what you are going to encounter at any given time in the future, you need to keep that gun on your person.  This is why we get the habit of putting on a seatbelt.  Because we don’t know when a collision might happen.   In order to have that gun on you at all times – and carry that gun in a manner that allows you to access that gun in a time of need, we need a good holster.

Most Gun Guys and Gals all agree, you are going to end up with a lot of different holsters.  A drawer or box full of them.  Most of them are cheap nylon made holsters, or holsters that came about as a fad must have holster.   One of the reasons for this is that we either don’t think about what we really need, and just go about buying holsters based on what a “Buddy” says, or by what some Clerk at a store says who doesn’t know you and what you really need.   So to avoid buying holsters unnecessarily, we have to take some time to inventory our Needs.

Needs are based on a few factors.  Where you are going.  What you are doing.  And how long are you going to be doing it.  These factors can change your holster requirement dramatically.
The Where Factor:  You need to take in account the Environment.  Both Physically, and Politically.  Going along with the Where Factor is Wear… how you are dressing for where you are going.  If you are in a permissive environment, maybe that drop leg rig will work, or maybe you have to keep that low profile and need to stay incognito.
The What Factor:  Is this a Business Day or a Range Day?  Business vs Repeated draws and reholstering may both be done with the same rig, but is it a good rig for what you want to do, considering the Where Factor.
And then the Time Factor.  I can pack a Beretta 92FS concealed, but if I want to carry that gun all day long, from 8AM to 10PM, maybe that IWB rig might not be the most comfortable, and something of a Belt Slide might be better for me.
There are lots of considerations and variables to consider that may have you changing your holster as often as changing your wardrobe.

To give yourself a head start on picking out a good holster is to make sure you are picking out a good holster.  Quality and materials can make all the difference.  Let’s just throw this out there; if you are looking at a holster that costs less than a box of ammo, you are probably not looking at a very high quality rig, and off the cuff I’d say to pass it up.

Nylon is just not a material I would ever want to put a gun in.  Nylon rigs tend to cheap and poorly designed and they are made to fit a wide range of pistols and not your gun specifically.  The fit of the holster is important.  It means the gun is not going to move around in the rig, making it more likely to cause wear on the gun’s finish or could damage and reduce the life of the holster… and make the holster less able to retain the gun in place.   Also Nylon can hold on to dirt, dust, and grit this increasing the abrasion the gun gets when you pull the gun out and put it back in.  It can retain moisture, thus acceleration corrosion.   Let me put it this way… I am not going to spend good money on a fine gun and then put it in a 20 dollar nylon holster.  I’m just not going to do it.  Nylon sucks for holsters.  It just does.  Don’t use it.

Your holster should be made for your gun.  Specifically.  Either fine hand boned leather, or carefully engineered Kydex allow for very specific fitment.  This protects the gun, and holds the gun better.   If you can carry a Revolver, a Ruger P95 and a 1911 in the same holster – this isn’t a holster you want.  I’ve had one like that… and while it carried everything, it carried none of them very well and the holster could allow the gun to fall out or be very awkward to draw.  The gun needs to be in the same place all the time.  Held where you remember where to put your hand when you draw. It needs to let you get a good grip on the gun before you pull the gun out of the holster.  And while you are packing it, it needs to protect that gun.  And then when you go to reholster, it needs to accept that gun readily and without anything that could impede reholstering.  Nylon straps for a thumb-break are a horrible idea.  Holsters that collapse and close so you can’t put that gun back safely, one handed, is useless.  These holsters could even be dangerous.  The moment of reholstering is the moment of your greatest danger in handling your gun.  Poisonous Snakes don’t want to go back in the cage and must be handled with the utmost care.  Pistols are the same way.  If that nylon strap flops into the trigger guard as you reholster, it could pull that trigger unintentionally.    Or a draw string on your jacket.   (Cut those off, they are useless anyway)
I saw a guy trying to auger the muzzle of his SIG into his holster that had collapsed. Trying to force the holster open so he could reholster the weapon.  I yelled at him to stop.  He froze and then looked at what he was doing.  His weapon was aimed directly into his pelvis.  His finger was also on the trigger.  He quickly corrected both of these conditions.  He realized that he had violated two out of the four gun safety rules.
First rule he broke was never point the gun at anything he didn’t want to destroy.  And the Second was to keep your finger off the trigger until you are on target and ready to fire.  I asked him “What would that bullet do to you if the weapon discharged?”  He took a moment to imagine the terminal ballistics of a .40 Cal 155 grain JHP bullet at point blank into his pelvic girdle.  He went pale for a few minutes. Survival would have been difficult and his comfort of life for about 6 months would have been such that maybe he wouldn’t have wanted to survive.

A lot of Instructors spend a great deal of time on the draw stroke.  For that gun to come out of the holster cleanly, the holster needs to be in position and holding your gun in position.  A floppy Nylon rig isn’t going to do this.  A holster that comes out of the pants or off the belt when you draw isn’t going to do this.  Straight up, in a critical situation that could get you killed.  It would be like a Bugs Bunny Cartoon when the Animated Character jumps of the plane with his parachute only to open it and find it was a backpack.  Funny in animation… Not funny when you are trying to defend the life of your loved one.

I like my holsters to be made of two things.  Either nice exotic leather, or exactly fitted Kydex.   When it comes to leather, I want that animal to have been something as deadly or as strong or as fast as I want to be should I need to draw my weapon in a threat situation.  I really like Shark Hide.  Shark is just about as tough as any natural material can be.  Adams Holsters makes a wicked Shark holster.  When it comes to Kydex, I want it to be thicker and stronger and more importantly engineered to fit my gun exactly.  I want there to be some adjustment when it comes to tension… so I can set up that holster based on how I want that draw to feel like.  A Kydex rig should not collapse on you, and it should not allow the gun to rattle around.  Kydex is great for holsters because they can easily be rinsed out, thus removing any grit that could have accumulated.  Perfect for when you are fighting or operating in a dirty environment.
I think G-Code makes the best Kydex holsters in the world.

Let’s talk about Looks for a moment.  How that holster looks on you, combined with what you are wearing… that says a lot about how professional you are even more than what gun you are packing.   You can be an Elite Warfighter and pack a Glock, but if you are on the range with a sad-sack nylon rig with a floppy strap thumb break, you look like an amateur.  You just do.  Pack that same Glock in a nice rig that’s made for it, much better.   Wearing a casual or semi casual attire with my Glock in my Shark Hide rig… I’ve had women throw themselves at me and some guys too.  I looked sharp.  ZZ Top starting singing about me.  Billy Crystal called to tell me that I looked marvelous.  Shark Hide never goes out of style.  However I’d not want to wear that rig in a tactical situation in a hostile environment.   G-Code is using some awesome coatings over their Kydex and found it does some good things for them.  Their Tactical Fuzz coating over their INCOG IWB rig is a fantastic option.  It’s a synthetic suede material that feels soft, cushions what could be uncomfortable, and it doesn’t absorb moisture.    Their new Kryptek camouflage is an awesome option as well, as it quiets the holster and it subdues the kydex in both the visual and IR spectrums.  Naked Kydex can be loud and just about glows in IR.  That and Kryptek just looks boss.

Don’t buy cheap holsters.  Buy good gear and it wont let you down.  Don’t violate the First Rule.

G-Code’s Blood Stripe Series

G-Code has rolled out a very limited run of what is called the “Blood Stripe” series.  This series supports the MARSOC Foundation. A portion of every holster sold will be donated to the foundation in support of their efforts to support those who have sacrificed so much for the rest of us.

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These holsters look fantastic in the pictures, and in person they even better.  We are only going to offer these for a short time.  A very short time.  So if you are thinking about getting one, just jump.  Because when it’s shut down, it’s done.  All orders are processed online.  As are the guns they are available for and pricing.  Check G-Code’s site.  If you have any questions, contact support@tacticalholsters.com.