Chris Costa shared some photos of the bag he uses for times he finds himself more than an hour away from home, as well as its contents.
The bag itself is a Costa Ludus x MAP System by London Bridge Trading. The equipment come from the following sources:
Carbine – War Sport Industries, LLC
Pistol – Salient Arms International
Lights – SureFire, LLC
Holster – Raven Concealment Systems
IFAK – Dark Angel Medical, LLC
Survival Kit – Solkoa
Light Accessory Loop – Thyrm
TNVC, Inc
Tags: Chris Costa, Dark Angel Medical, London Bridge Trading, Raven Concealment Systems, Salient Arms International, Surefire, Thyrm, TNVC Inc, War Sport Industries LLC
Gotta have that smoke grenade.
Makes sense if he’s teaching a class at a rural location and needs a bird in a medical emergency.
Hello, 911, someone tried to _____, so I responded and shot him. Send EMS and police. He is down, but stable. I am providing aid to him. Where are we? Ummm well there’s a coffee shop… Can’t see the name… It’s next door to a pawn shop…sorry didn’t know there were 28 pawn shops in town. Umm just tell them I’ve marked the scene with red smoke!
Yeah, the GPS and Survival Kit are probably totally inadequate. Better have that smoke grenade ready.
CS worked good for concealment in a Nairobi, Kenya mall. Saved some people.
Two things: Is this supposed to be another “covert” bag, and if so when are people going to stop putting velcro panels all over it?? Fairly screams tactical…
Second that is a gigantic watch, wonder if it doubles as a CQC weapon.
Two guns, no blade. Someone’s got a hole in their skillset.
I would think the knife would be on his person, to be fair, mine is.
The DHS Coast Guard doesn’t teach CQC w/edged weapons. You might get a scratch or a boo boo.
Looks like the Surefire wrist light watch.
I thought it was an altimeter. You know. Just in case.
Can you say “Pimp my sponsors?” and where’s the toilette paper at? Ya gotta have TP
Costa? Again, why are we giving this guy any of our attention again?
Because he’s a damn good shooter and instructor?
I don’t get the hero worship, but I also don’t get the blind hatred.
I just had a V-8 moment. I know why he didn’t layout his TP in the photo. He isn’t sponsored by a TP company…..YET. 😀
Not quite a guitar case or a tennis racket bag.
It seems to be lacking a beard.
Needs more Rock Tape
Nice LBX airsoft camo on your $3000 rifle..rad
From reading comments here on SSD over time I know that this Costa guy: was in the Coast Guard, is apparently a pretty good competitive shooter, and is pretty aggressive about promoting his “brand”.
What I don’t understand is what he has done that has rubbed so many people the wrong way? In other words, why the hate?
TLB
+1
It’s the gunternet. Without hatred of those different than themselves, what else would the trolls do?
Nuh uh!
He also ran Magpul for awhile.
Travis Haley was briefly CEO of Magpul. Not Chris Costa.
FWIW, Costa was the President of Magpul Dynamics, Haley was CEO of Magpul Dynamics, not Magpul.
This sums a lot of it up:
jeal·ou·sy noun \?je-l?-s?\
: an unhappy or angry feeling of wanting to have what someone else has
I agree. Any time something is posted about him it’s like a bridge troll convention.
This bag will for some situations and won’t for others. If you don’t like it don’t buy it.
Agreed. The peanut gallery gets old,
He’s a competent instructor, some of us come from a crowd where if we like you, we make fun of you, if we don’t, you won’t hear a peep. There are a lot of guys you won’t hear a peep from us about who are considered a pretty big deal.
Jon, OPT
I’m here for the comments….
Many people, for some reason, equate being dismissive with having a refined taste. Trashing everything you don’t understand doesn’t make you look discriminating; it makes you looks closed-minded and childish.
It’s not about refined taste, it’s about not hanging from the nuts of the guy who’s basically the Justin Bieber of the training industry.
While I have no love for Mr. Costa, I also don’t have a specific problem with him. He’s a guy who sells things; more power to him.
I’m not a huge fan of our President, but I still roll my eyes when someone starts up on all the reasons he’s a doofus. Yep. We get it. We even agree. But we don’t really care to rehash it every time his name is mentioned. If you think he’s a goober, then cool I guess, but a person’s need to make sure everyone know that they don’t care for a thing goes back to projecting the idea of refined tastes. “CHRAS KUSTA IS DUM AND I NO DAT SO I EM SMERT!”
Costa does it to himself by making stupid decisions,and having no integrity. Take his action figure for instance. Nothing screams humility like getting a barbie doll of yourself made and trying to promote it in an industry of GWOT vets. He rips of concepts and ideas and training techniques from industry peers and tries to promote them as his own. He spreads untrue rumors about his competitors. LBT designed that bag and used Costa to market it, Costa talks like it was all his idea and he collaborated on the design, which I know for a fact is untrue because I saw the prototypes before costa was even working with LBT. A very quiet professional friend of mine who was a former SOF operator with serious gunfight time took a class from Costa and Costa made a lot of comments about being in gunfights. Costa has never been in a gunfight. EVER. He makes videos called “Easy Day?” theres nothing fucking easy about fire fights and wounded team mates. The guy is a straight up user and poser. He will rip off and step on and lie to whoever to get ahead he has no loyalty to anyone except himself look how many gun companies he’s gone through hell jump ship in a heart beat to whoever will pay him more or give him the most free kit to run their products. Fuck Him.
And here the comments ended.
No, my phone wouldn’t let me reply. First of all, I’m not on anyone’s side, so if this was done, he can rot, meaning if he speaks first hand from experience about being in gunfights. Bullshit is bullshit, know your place. I’ve seen guys who haven’t deployed since 1990 talk shit about gunfighting, having a firefight with an Iraqi corpse in the desert does not a gunfighter make. As for the other shit, selling rights to yourself as an icon is literally why they call it “selling out”. This is why I neither love or hate, there is no side to be on, I throw jokes from the sideline, let the man determine his own destiny.
Jon, OPT
Ah haha well I stand corrected. And I do agree with your point
Would love to do a mall crawl with this ”covert” and EDC stuff and just see how many people actually notice. Same with Maxpedition man purses, as they say ”your results may vary” but in Iowa I don’t see much of this stuff.
What they need to do is add a fake zippered compartment that contains part of a skateboard. You just leave the zipper open so the fake board is exposed. Presto no one is the wiser. Except now people would be left wondering why does this bearded middle age man, wearing tacti-cool clothing, have a skateboard pack?
I think “the hate” comes from his yearn to sniff the butts and unnecessarily size up the people who have BTDT.
Additionally, I don’t think its too far from rational for someone like him to be hated on since there was so much fanaticsism by the airsofters, wannabes and the like.
BTW, someone mentioned he’s a competitive shooter?
Where?
Nice layout, a pic of how it looks in the bag would help to show load balance.
Jon, OPT
The form factor of the surefire watch is testament to the need for further miniaturization.
MagPul Dynamics changed things in the tactical training world when they came on scene. Primarily, they understood marketing and promotion and tied it to decent tactics presented by good, personable instructors. This all coincided with a huge increase in popularity for “tactical” gear, AR15s, and leveraged the internet at a time when more and more people were going online and browsing speeds were finally sufficient to stream videos on almost any platform. This was all about the same time YouTube really took off, BTW. It all just lined up right.
Chris Costa was in the ground floor with MD and he and Haley made a very “attractive” team for folks to be drawn to. Relatively young, decent or better creds, well-outfitted with unobtanium gear, and they executed well and often.
Costa quickly became the out-of-nowhere cool guy for many and in many ways he was viewed as a super instructor. It wasn’t justified at the level it reached, but there it was. He didn’t ask for it. And, like is always the case, once it becomes cool or hip to like something, it becomes even cooler and more hip to dislike it.
But it’s only cool if everyone knows that you are not a conformist…hence the internet commando troll phenomenon. Letting everyone know you don’t like Costa implies that you are somehow more in-the-know then them, that you have a secret, that they are being duped. That’s how it works.
I have no idea if Costa is as good or bad as the intardnet claims. But he’s done a far better job than me (and nearly every one of his detractors) of making the doughnuts, so who’s the dummy now?
That’s a pretty good summation.
He said it all. Plus it is a known fact that the more you like CC or ask what he is wearing or using the more of a poser or pogue you are. While the inverse is true as well, bashing CC adds gunfights to your resume, months to your deployments, scary tattoos to your forearms, and raises your internet testosterone levels. Making jokes about him in light humor shows you accept his success. At least he never claimed credentials he never earned.
Never underestimate the simplicity and transparency of haters.
Jon, OPT
Jon, you said everything I wanted to say about haters!
Matt, Jon, SSD, CRH etc.
Thanks, FWIW the discussion (all sides) actually helped give me a lot more information than I had before.
I’m glad I asked.
TLB
Jon so we are clear I’m not a hater I’m just fed up with the over all lack of integrity from certain personalities and companies in the industry it seems to be filled with fakes, phonies and liars, all my comments are a mixture of my own opinion and some from first hand experiences with CC I’m not not jealous nor do I lose sleep at night because of CC’S level of success someone asked why everyone hates on him and I threw in my two cents and it’s nothing I wouldn’t say to his face but he avoids me like the plague because he has burned me a couple of times. Maybe light humor from the side lines works for you but I tend to like to call a spade a spade and not sugar coat shit.
My original two replies didn’t post. BLUF, you’re good man, no worries, my stance requires neutrality based on my company mission being equipment provision to those who need it. I appreciate the point of view. To me: does the gear work? Does it have a role? These are answers I am after, all is secondary to this. I don’t sell his gear anyway, but might pursue more LBT in the future.
One point from my original posts… If you speak from first person and not regurgitation, then it is valid to my evaluation. A lot of people love taking ownership of other’s stories, this just perpetuates BS.
Jon, OPT
As usual, you provide the voice of reason. We miss you on Lightfighter!
He’s simply good at marketing himself. He may be a great instructor, but his resume of actual trigger time speaks for itself. I don’t think he’s a big deal. There are plenty of guys who have really BTDT, and because they are real “quiet professionals” don’t sell themselves as well as CC.
Keep in mind a lot of the hero worship is from guys I would surmise are people who work behind a desk during most of the day. Besides he comes off as easy going, that can be more approachable for the average Joe to deal with than a Super squirrel who to them is more intimidating.
My problem with this is not actually to do with Costa (though the issue at hand does seem to be very prevalent with him in particular). It’s that this doesn’t look like kit promotion, it looks like product promotion. The difference being that this seems to be more about promoting that bag and the products he gets for free. If that’s all it is, fine. Advertizing has it’s place, but this piece was presented as “this is his go-to necessities bag”, and it just doesn’t feel like that. It looks like someone picked a few items they wanted to spotlight and advertize and a couple random “tactical items” (smoke and sheers) that aren’t “for sale” to make it look like a genuine kit. I’m not saying he doesn’t carry this stuff regularly, but I’d love to pull a “surprise inspection” on him and see if he happens to have this setup with him. this exact kit in this exact bag. I bet he doesn’t.
more like this^ and this v
This bag screams “I am carrying a gun in this bag.” LOL
Costa is such a goon.
The comments here are like being trapped in the van, headed to some distant site with all of the twenty five year olds- talking about the one that’s on leave.
^ this!