March 2010 Archives

My wife was watching a neighbor kid this morning while his mom went on a field trip with his sister.

I work from home, and openly carry a pistol while at home (in a holster of course).

I went out to the kitchen this morning and forgot to un-tuck my shirt and cover it, and he noticed it and asked me if that was a gun?

I said "yeah" and he said "oh", and went back to what playing.

I thought it was kind of funny compared to the furor a gun ban organization is leveling at Starbuck's for complying with state laws. 5 year old boys apparently can handle open carrying without messing their pants, why can't they?

I picked up a couple of flashlights recently (paid for out of my own pocket) and thought I would use them as blog fodder. Now I know there are some people who are seriously obsessed with flashlights, I am not one of them, nor am I up to speed on all the technical specifications and details, but I do know what I like.



SacredFire NF-007



This is quite possibly the dumbest thing you could name a flashlight. For the money ($11) though, this thing flat out rocks. I originally was looking into the Surefire E1B as an every day carry, but just couldn't justify that kind of money for a flashlight, especially something small I could lose easily. I wouldn't say the 007 is equivalent to the E1B, but it's small, fits in a pocket easily and puts out some serious light. (Which is what I was wanting.)

One of the things I really like it is that it can use a variety of batteries. 1xAAA, 1XAA, or 1xCR123 (including the rechargeable types). You can be pretty sure of finding at least one of those types at any random gas station or convenience store.

Battery life and output is more than acceptable for ohshit use with the rechargeable CR123 batteries, 110 lumens for 50 minutes.

I do prefer a momentary tail cap switch over the clicky type the 007 has, but all in all it's not that big of a deal.

The light it puts out is very good. It's nicely focused, but not too narrow and throws a long way. (How long exactly, I'm not sure, but I took it out tonight and was lighting up my car from 4 houses down and across the street, roughly 70 yards.)

I'm thinking about ordering several more to stash in the car and as gifts. It's a neat light for a great price.

Fenix LD20



This was kind of a spur of the moment buy. It's a lot more expensive than the 007 ($50) but still fairly cheap compared to other lights with similar features.

This light, to me, is more something I would take camping or hunting, but it does have two modes that are more "tactical".

Turbo mode is 180 lumens for 2 hours. If you do a half-click on the tail cap you get a 180 lumen strobe light, which I can tell you is both blinding and disorienting. Could you engage the strobe light mode if someone was trying to stab you? Probably not. Still, I guess it's cool.

The general mode is roughly 90 lumens (a guess) and still pretty darn bright and lasts longer than turbo mode (not sure how much longer).

There's also a medium mode, and survival mode. Survival mode is 9 lumens and lasts 71 hours according to the box. Apparently survival mode does not work with lithium batteries though. I'll swap out the lithiums I have in there now if/when I take it out camping.

Finally there is an SOS mode which blinks out SOS in Morse code.

It does fit in a pocket, but it's a little on the long side. It's probably not something you would want to carry there everyday, though I did that for 3 days this weekend, so it is possible. They do throw in a lanyard, belt clip, and belt holster though, if you would rather carry one of those ways. I prefer pocket carry myself. 

"Show me where in the Constitution it says the gubmint can force me to buy something."

I heard that a lot on the talk radio shows this weekend while driving.

You won't find it, and you won't find where the government can throw you in jail for smoking something, or how they can prevent you from growing something for your own use on your own land.

I know some hold out hope that the courts will rule the Health Care bill unconstitutional, but they've ruled against freedom in the past and we didn't take to the streets with our pitchforks.

Went to my cousin's wedding this weekend, which required two 8 hour roadtrips.

The wedding was cool, as far as wedding's go. I got to see some family I hadn't seen in years, if not decades in some cases, and I got to spend more time with my own nuclear family than usual, albeit in the car.

Glad to be home though. Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

I have a fondness for the Hi-Power. Ergonomically, it's like the thing was designed specifically for me. It doesn't just fit your hand, it feels like it belongs there.

I don't know what kind of groups it can turn in at 25 yards, but I do know it's an easy gun to shoot well. It makes novice shooters better. I know it sounds weird but I've seen it with several newbies including myself. The first shot I ever made with a Hi-Power was a dead on bullseye at 15 yards. Before that I thought being laser accurate with a pistol was just something that was beyond me.

If you love 1911's though, the trigger will be less than pleasing. A lot of the complaints I hear and read about the trigger are that it's heavy and gritty. Well mine was never _that_ bad, but it wasn't great either.

After some home gunsmithing I've mine gotten mine to be tolerable, but the dang reset drives me nuts. Because of the way the trigger works on a Hi-Power the trigger must be let all the way out for it to reset. It's not too bad at the range, but if you are used to a 1911 you might have some problems shooting quickly under stress.

Well, I found a gunsmith who claims he is able to get the reset down to almost nothing, with the total travel being a tenth of an inch or less. Holy $#!+!

I'm not sure what exactly happens other than the slide gets hacked up and some steel gets silver soldered into it.

I have this aversion to hacking up guns. Whenever I see an old 1911 warhorse that's had the slide milled for target sights, and all the other doodads that we all love on our 1911's I get a little weepy inside.

But, I'm going to go through with it nonetheless, and I'm probably going to get the slide milled for target sights, and get all those other things we love on pistols. I feel a little mixed about that, but in the end it's a tool and if it makes the tool more usable then that's what counts. (It's a commercial MkIII and not historically significant so that makes it ok I guess.)

I just hope it gets back in time for Combative Pistol 2 in October.

I'll be honest, I don't know a lot about first aid, and I need to rectify that, but a kit with supplies is part of it. I figured it was about time I got one.

What I do know about camping and hunting is that most of what happens isn't life threatening. Minor cuts, scrapes, chafing, blisters, sprains, etc. I think I can handle that.

I got some quick clot as well. I like to shoot and hunt, and often we're well away from the nearest emergency room. I hope to hell I never have to use it, but it's in my kit.

I added a couple of extras besides the quick clot because they seemed like they could be useful. Emergency blankets, water purification tablets, and a fire starter.

It's tempting to go nuts and pack the kitchen sink, but I figured something small and light is far more likely to be taken on trips than something huge and cumbersome. It's not much bigger than a shaving kit, and can easily be thrown in a range bag or what have you. It's even got a little detachable mini kit for carrying on your person if you are away from camp.