We were asked about the old Slipstream Artic oil we were working on. We wanted to do something special because extreme cold plays hell with machines… and a firearm is indeed a machine. In fact, when it gets really cold, lubrication becomes critical just like when it gets really hot. A lot of oils don’t offer good enough protection… some of them popular weapons lubricants. I’ll explain why here in a moment. So we looked at doing a cold weather formula for Slipstream.
Pretty much we don’t need it. Why? Because Slipstream works to almost Minus 60 degrees. I tested it on a Mossberg 930SPX by burying it in a snow bank for 3 weeks. Flawless. The gun cycled, reloaded, fully functional. The Lubricant worked.
The Grease, not so much. Greases are oils with additives that thicken it up. These things don’t react as well to severe cold. The oil gets thicker, stiffer, and it doesn’t move. It’s fine once it warms back up… Just like any other grease. I’ve tested other greases and when it gets really cold… they just don’t work. Oil, since it doesn’t contain the thickeners, keeps fluid, stays slick, and doesn’t lose its ability to provide lubrication. Slipstream STYX also works well in very cold conditions. Better yet, the Anti-Corrosion properties in STYX works even better because when cold metal warms up, you can get condensation building up – inside and outside. Unprotected, that condensation can lead to corrosion… inside the frame, main springs, under grip panels. You’ve seen it happen. STYX stops that.
Regular Slipstream oil is great… if you are running that you are fine. No worries. If you go from Cold to Warm frequently…. say… in and out of a hot Patrol Car, you might want to upgrade your Slipstream to STYX. Normal activities, you are going to be just fine. But what about Slipstream’s Nano Particles? They remain completely unaffected by temperature. Extreme hot. Extreme cold. Not bothered. What can cause problems though is water droplets inside, freezing and forming a physical barrier to movement, blocking things from working. The great thing about Slipstream is that it reduces the ability of those frozen condensation droplets of moisture from sticking to the metal and blocking it up.
It gets really cold out here in the High Desert country here in Utah. Very cold. It gets colder here than it does in a lot of places in Alaska. I know there are places colder… North Dakota… Northern Alaska… And we’ve got people there using Slipstream, and they have reported great satisfaction with Slipstream.
We recommend building a fire, putting your feet up, and staying warm when it gets below sixty out there… but if you really need an advanced Lubricant for temperatures below minus 60 degrees… Let us know. We’ll work something up.