Monthly Archives: May 2016

“EDC”-type stuff

Posted on by

Tam has a brief post up about how, being tool using animals and all, that even if you don’t carry a pistol you should probably at least always carry a knife and/or flashlight.

For the last few years I’ve been carrying a little Benchmade folder that was a gift from a very generous LMI a few years back. You get so used to carrying a pocketknife that when you wind up reaching for it and its not there, you get quite surprised.

For flashlights, I love SureFire as much as the next guy but my wallet does not. I was actually really pleasantly surprised by how much I like the Fenix flashlights, especially this little guy. This is the one I carry around in my pocket and Ive been very pleased with it. It runs on AA batts, so it fits my logistics table quite nicely, throws a good amount of light, is LED, and for the money its a pretty tough act to beat.

Some guys get carried away with all this ‘EDC’ stuff. I’ve seen some people post pictures of their ‘EDC loadout’ and it’s enough crap to drag your Levi’s down to your ankles if your belt isn’t doing its part. For me, I keep the pocketknife clipped in one pocket, flashlight in another, wallet in the back pocket and a gun on the belt. That’s pretty much it. If I need to carry more gear than that, I usually go with the messenger bag I picked up a few months back…gives me room to carry my textbooks, spare ammo, extra sweater or cap, and it all carries rather well on the padded strap.

I know someone is going to ask where I carry a spare magazine. Honestly, ninety percent of the time I don’t. Most people would feel comfortable carrying a 6-shot revolver and 2 speedloaders….thats the same amount of ammo my Glock 9mm carries without a spare mag, so…I figure I’m doing okay there.

Annnnnd we’re back

Posted on by

Yeah, theres a distinct lack of posting lately. Real world stuff, Im afraid.

Oddly, you would think with all the tumult going on in the world there would be  no shortage of things to post about…zika, Trump vs. Tramp, wildfires, earthquakes, economic matters, etc, etc. Face it…it’s an interesting world out there.

I’ve been out doing some travel lately, hence the radio silence. It’s a big world and while parts of it are pretty and have some value, they are only a small fraction of the rest of the country. Yeah, Venice is pretty but as a whole Italy is pretty messed up. And the Acropolis looks awesome, but Greece is a Third World hole. So..yeah…the US has it’s issues but it’s better than most of the options.

So…Cruz has bowed out, much to my surprise. I was dead certain he’d be the party candidate (and I really still haven’t ruled it out completely). The only real question now is if the GOP will rally around the frontrunner or leave him to swing in the wind as a lesson to those who would deign to buck the party power players.

Regardless, I think we’re doomed…again. Im thinking it’s going to be President Hillary…but I am virtually certain it will be a one-term affair. Someone pointed out to me that as polarizing as both players are, even in their own party, there’s an excellent chance of gridlock. Dude, I’m pro-gridlock. Government that governs best, governs least.

And to try and stay somewhat on topic, while cleaning out a few things I managed to find a time capsule to the mid-90’s. Behold:

20160502_101148A box of the ol’ Black Talon ammo. Remember all that hand-wringing? How it would fly through a body like a buzzsaw…never mind that with most conventional rifling twists the bullet wouldnt even make a full revolution before exiting the body. Still, once the bad press hit the media Winchester folded it’s tent, took off the black coating, tinkered a bit, and relaunched it as Ranger SXT …where it sits in a lot of badged holsters. So…twenty year old ammo. Sure, it’ll work just fine but, really, who needs the headache of some zealous mouthbreather telling a jury how horrible you are for using ammo that is so evil it was pulled off the market.

Ah, the 90’s….the first half of that decade really was a fun one for guns.