KE Arms has released two new ambidextrous magazine catches for AR15s. The Ambi Magazine Catch for AR15s is lower profile option that adds a checkered button directly beneath the bolt catch.
The Extended Ambi Magazine Catch for AR15s provides a very large, skeletonized pad that extends back toward the trigger to make reaching the magazine release very easy for left-handed users. Both magazine catches are made from steel and melonite coated.
I recently had the chance to try Fire Wicks from Ben’s Backwoods and I’m impressed. To give you some context, my impression of them is that they are kind of like an improved version of petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls. Having something that readily turns spark into flame and then extends that flame is vital to any fire kit.
Fire Wicks are sections of lamp wick that are impregnated with wax. The use of lamp wick is the genius part. First, lamp wick is dense with cotton fibers so the can be fluffed to catch a spark and burn for a long, long time. Second, the lamp wick is flat in form which makes Fire Wicks incredibly easy to store in a kit, on a sheath, or anywhere. Lastly, one Fire Wick can be trimmed into multiple pieces to start multiple fires. It can also be kept whole to use like a match when starting a twig stove or reaching into a fire lay. The lamp wick form is very handy.
I was charged by a cow moose and her calf yesterday. That’s a first for me and it happened on our family property… well, technically adjacent to our property but still, the charge began on our property.
The northern border of our place is a road that runs West to East, eventually climbing its way into a National Forest. Our driveway enters this road and the forest lands start about 2.5 miles beyond our place. I walk or ruck this road regularly to stay in hiking shape and that is what I was doing yesterday when I meet Mrs. Moose.
My walk started with me turning East out of our driveway. I walked less than 100 yards from the end of the driveway. In this area, the woodline is set back from the road anywhere between 20-40 yards to give space for some power lines. Fortunately, this buffer field is at its widest where the charge happened which gave me time to see it happen.
I was walking East when I noticed rustling and caught movement in my peripheral vision to the South in the woodline (my right). Initially, I noticed a moose calf (already much larger than a very large Whitetail Deer) pop out of the woodline at a run directly toward me. It was coming from ahead and to my right. The calf was out first, possibly trying to get out of the way of the cow (which I didn’t know about yet). I am really not sure why it came out first.
I stopped walking and the woodline had my immediate attention. I realized shortly, based on movement, that a large dark spot I could see but wasn’t fully aware of in the woodline was the cow moose. She was coming out quickly through, not around, some smaller Grand Firs that choke this section of our property. She covered half the ground between my position on the road and the woodline in a flash before stopping. It didn’t really even look like a sprint since she slowed to a stop so easily. The elapsed time from when I saw the calf and realized a cow was following to when she stopped, may have been less than a second.
At this point, I am not moving but she has stopped about 20 yards away and is sort of just staring so I shifted my gaze away from her. I am not sure how much of a difference it makes since supposedly moose have terrible eyesight, but I’ve heard you shouldn’t make eye contact… so I didn’t. I just sort of watched below her slightly so I could still see legs and track movement while I started to back away. At some point, while backing away, I drew my Ruger LCR (not enough gun) from a pocket holster and kept it low along the side of my thigh.
The cow took probably no more than 1 or 2 more small steps in my general direction at this point. She was mostly standing in place. Then an S10 Blazer drove past seemingly unaware of the moose since they didn’t slow down. When the Blazer zipped past, the cow turned and stepped back toward the woodline with a start which I took as an opportunity to back up a bit faster. I was out of view of the cow a moment after that because of some low brush and smaller trees between us.
It was exciting, to say the least, but there are also some lessons to be learned.
I’ll wrap up by pointing something out that I often think about in situations like this. We have active mountain lions on our property… mountain lions that have killed and carried miniature horses and alpacas OUT OF BARNS! We obviously have moose too. We are not unique. There are millions of people living in wild places like this. And a lot of those people are tired of their right to own the firearms they deem appropriate to protect themselves from these animals being questioned by people who live somewhere far away in a place where the wildlife is limited to little critters that eat from dumpsters.
Are you a knife maker, sheath maker, or hobbyist who is interested in making kydex sheaths without the need for eyelets? Then you will likely be interested in the new Tri-Fold Joint Tool from FLC Knives.
FLC Knives is known for making an array of non-metallic knives and the obvious application for this tool is to create sheaths that are also non-metallic. The tool creates a folded joint in .06″ kydex that is integral to the sheath and requires no adhesives, sewing, rivets, or fasteners of any kind. The joint is compact with width and thickness kept to a minimum.
Custom knife makers already ordering these tools. It will be interesting to see what they can come up with.
