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Hodge Defense Educates Us On The Texas Revolution

December 10th, 2013

Hodge Defense Systems offered a cool post on their Facebook page. Their marketing usually gives me a chuckle but this one caught my full attention. I’m a big fan of history. We’ve all heard about The Alamo but few outside of Texas know of the Battle of Gonzales.

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Hodge Defense Random History Moment: The Siege of Béxar was first major campaign of the Texas Revolution, in which a volunteer Texan army defeated Mexican forces at San Antonio de Béxar (now known as “San Antonio, TX, God Bless The USA”). Texians had become pretty down on the Mexican government as General Santa Anna’s became lamely dictatorial. In early October, Texas settlers gathered in Gonzales to stop Mexican troops from taking their arms (a small cannon). The resulting skirmish kicked off the Texas Revolution. Men continued to assemble in Gonzales and soon established the Texian Army.

Santa Anna then sent his brother-in-law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, (which is, admittedly, a pretty kick-butt name) to Béxar with reinforcements. The Texians initiated a siege of the city, a battle ensued, long-story-short, Cos surrendered after retreating to and holing up at the Alamo somewhere in the wee hours of 2 a.m. on December 10, 1835.

So, we’ve got some sort of a HDSI/Bill & Ted “This Day In History” vibe going on here. Relevancy? Nothing really, ‘cept that you shouldn’t ever give up civilian small arms to the government, and that Hodge Defense is based in San Antonio, Texas – so we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for these little historical-stars all aligning.

Garmin – Tactix Tactical Ops GPS Watch

December 10th, 2013

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The Garmin tactix Tactical Ops GPS watch is a rugged time piece that packs a lot of features into its frame. The case is made from stainless steel, PVD-coated in a non-reflective Black, and is waterproof up to 50 meters. The face consists of a non-reflective, scratch-resistant, curved mineral glass. The negative mode liquid crystal display is designed for stealth operation, and the Green LED backlight is NVD compatible. The wrist straps are made of polyurethane, and are also Black.

The tactix’s high-sensitivity GPS automatically calibrates the on-board altimeter, barometer and 3-axis compass, in addition to the time and date in multiple time zones. The GPS feature allows the user to create routes, record up to 1000 waypoints, 10,000 track points, and the TrackBack features guides the user back along a previously recorded tracklog. The tactix has ANT+ and Bluetooth capabilities to share tracks, waypoints, and routes with other compatible Garmin devices or smartphones. The tactix features a preloaded world wide basemap.

The tactix functions as a recording tool for training. It can provide real-time performance data, including distance, pace, cadence, and calories burnt. It’s compatible with Garmin’s heart rate monitor, speed/cadence bike sensor, and foot pod. Additionally, the tactix features U.S. tidal data and the Garmin jumpmaster software for amphibious and airborne operations.

The tactix is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It can last up to 50 hours on a single charge in GPS mode, three weeks in sensor mode, and five weeks in watch mode.

I’ve been wearing the tactix around for a few days, and I like it. Setup was quick and simple, and once I got used to the buttons and menu navigation it became easy to switch between the different functions. At first, it didn’t seem that I was getting the listed battery life out of the watch, so I left it on an extended charge and now it’s still going strong a couple of days later, with barely a dent in the battery meter. It’s also worth mentioning that despite the styling, this isn’t a “big watch”. It’s lightweight and isn’t uncomfortable to wear at all.

The Garmin tactix is currently available from www.strohmanenterprise.com. Run by a USMC Veteran, Strohman takes good care of military and LE personnel.

Diamondhead USA in Action – Part 3

December 10th, 2013

www.diamondhead-usa.com

Falling In Love With Hill People Gear All Over Again

December 10th, 2013

Hill People Gear has been kind of quiet for awhile now but earlier today they gave us a sneak peek of a few upcoming items: the Terrainsert, Attaché and Medium GP Pocket. I can’t help but once again stand in awe of what seem to be phased improvements to their back country living system. They consistently impress.

Terrainsert

The Tarainsert is a combination framesheet / organization panel for the Tarahumara pack and made from HDPE that is slathered in FirstSpear 6/12 goodness.

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Attaché

The Attache is a compression panel / attache case that can attach to the back of an Umlindi or used in stand alone mode. This 6/12 lined bag will accept up to an 11″x16″ laptop as well as accept Velcro backed pouches or holsters.

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Medium GP Pocket

Based on the FirstSpear Medium GP Pocket, this HPG version features a 6/9 attachment along with a full-width slot pocket on the inside rear, and two half-width slot pockets on the inside front.

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For full details visit www.hillpeoplegear.com/Products/ComingSoon

Treaper Ltd – 3HGR

December 10th, 2013

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The 3HGR is a combination sling and gun rest with an adjustable support strap. The support strap allows the user to quickly attach their rifle to a tree, post, or other similar object for additional stability. A flexible spandex component in the 3HGR enables the adjustment of the firing line and the ability to shoot a moving target while strapped to a support.

The 3HGR attaches to the swivel stud found on most standard rifles, however it also works with most bipod models thanks to the sling swivel stud located in the bottom of the gun rest. It can also be used as a traditional gun sling, or adjusted to be used as a shoulder harness or safety sling.

www.3hgr.fi/en

Thank You For Your Hospitality SureFire & 5.11 Tactical

December 9th, 2013

I’d like to personally express my thanks for last week’s outstanding writers event hosted by SureFire and 5.11 Tactical. It was extremely well organized and I appreciate the opportunity to see behind the curtain. I’d particularly like to call out Mike Voigt and Barry Dueck as well as Danny P for their instructional skills.

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I’d also like to mention the additional sponsors: Aimpoint, Dueck Defense, Firebase Combat Studies Group, Hornady, Lewis Machine & Tool, Mystery Ranch, Pitbull Tactical, Safariland, and Zev Technologies. The event would not have been possible without your support.

Finally, thanks to Leah, Tom and Garin for herding us cats and putting up with our incessant attempts to derail your marketing plans. Dave R, the insight into 5.11 was quite eye opening. You guys have assembled quite a team.

Trident Concepts Brings Up A Good Point About IWB Holsters

December 9th, 2013

Trident Concepts frontman Jeff Gonzalez is a great guy and makes some excellent points on his corporate blog. This is one I thought we should share with our readers. I asked Jeff and thankfully he agreed.

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We just finished up another great Concealed Carry Tactics class and we saw a lot of inside the waist band holsters that used a “clip” to secure the holster. If you have something that is essential then you are going to want something more secure.

We have seen a fair amount of these holsters slip out during the draw forcing the shooter to strip the holster during the draw stroke. It happens enough times that we take notice of it and try to work to improve their security. If you do run a clip style holster then I strongly suggest you consider practicing a few draw strokes where you purposely set up the holster to slip off your pants forcing you to strip it off. That is the best way to plan for that contingency…actually the best way is to avoid using it altogether, but they are popular.

Read the rest of this entry »

Prototype GLOCK Sights from Vickers Tactical

December 9th, 2013

As many of you know, Larry Vickers has a set of sights for the GLOCK coming through a collaboration with Wilson Combat. This is a prototype but the final production ones will be very simila; the hole at the bottom is for a tritium dot allowing for a dot on top of dot tritium sight picture. The rear sight is a “U”-shaped affair with scalloped sides. So far, LAV has made no mention of the front sight.

Vickers Tactical GLOCK Sight by Wilson Combat

According to LAV, GLOCK plastic sights go they have 4 issues:

1) they are plastic so are easily marred

2) the rear sight notch is too narrow for the front sight so there is very little to no light on either side of the front site

3) the white u notch rear site draws your attention to the rear sight vs the front site

4) with a proper sight picture the bottom 25% of the white dot on the front site is cut off so many shooters subconsciously elevate the front site in order to see a complete dot- thus shooting high

Vickers feels that the fact that they are plastic is really the least of their problems. He commented, “They are simply poorly designed pistol sights – period.”

(Source: www.facebook.com/LarryVickers)