Archive | Tactical Gear

BattleComp 1.5

I have mentioned the BattleComp on Jerking the Trigger before. It is a compensator for the AR family of weapons that may be nothing short of revolutionary. Much like many other advanced compensators on the market, this one tames muzzle rise and suppresses flash nearly as effectively as an A2 flash suppressor.

However, unlike other advanced compensators on the market, the BattleComp does not redirect any additional sound or blast to the back or sides. This means that it is effective in situations where other compensators would have been a detriment – like indoors, working as a team, or in improvised shooting positions. This is a compensator with seemingly no downside. This is an evolutionary step forward.

14.5″ barrels continue to gain popularity because of their handiness and lighter weight. They can also be used on non-NFA weapons simply by permanently attaching a muzzle device that brings the total length to 16″ (14.5″ barrel + 1.5″ muzzle device = 16″). The best way to attach this muzzle device is by pinning. This ensures the the device will be permanently attached and will meet the 16″ barrel length requirement.

Now the designers of the BattleComp have created a new version, the BattleComp 1.5, with users of 14.5″ barrels in mind. It is purpose built to be long enough to bring a 14.5″ barrel to the required 16″ length and it is pre-drilled for pinning. It is available in black oxide and matte stainless finishes and retails for $155.

The BattleComp 1.5 looks like just the thing to help tame the sharp recoil pulse of a 14.5″ carbine gas barrel or to make your 14.5″ mid-length gas barrel even more smooth.

You can read more and purchase a BattleComp 1.5 at the BattleComp website.

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Review: Marion Outdoors Flexible Bail for Guyot Bottles

You may remember that I recently mentioned a clever new flexible bail for Guyot Bottles that is made by Marion Outdoors. Marion was kind enough to provide one of his bails for review and I have good news… It is every bit as clever as it looks.

The Flexible Bail can be seen here attached to a Guyot Bottle. Click to enlarge.

Stainless steel Guyot Bottles are great gear. These bottles do way more than just carry water. They can also be a portable cooking and water purification bottle. This is because they are made of single wall stainless steel, just like a pot or pan you might have at home. They can be placed directly on or hung over a fire (after removing the lid). However, the challenge with using them in this manner is how do you handle the hot bottles.

Simply slip the loop over the “stop” to fasten the Flexible Bail to the bottle. Click to enlarge.

That is where the Flexible Bail from Marion Outdoors comes in. It quickly and easily attaches to any stainless steel Guyot Bottle to provide an easy handle for moving it off a fire or a bail for hanging it over a fire.

The clever design allows you to use a notched stick to safely and easily move a hot bottle on and off the fire. Click to enlarge.

The Flexible Bail is made from braided steel wire so it is quite capable of standing up to the heat of a fire. When it is off the bottle it is a simple loop with a smaller loop at each end. The smaller loops are fastened around the main loop which makes a sort of sliding loop that can be fastened to the collar of the bottle. One of the smaller loops is held in place by a stop. The other smaller loop is just large enough to fit over the stop. This is what allows you to open up the bail enough to slide it onto the collar of the bottle. The installation is simple and intuitive.

This is the sliding loop that fits over the collar of the bottle. Click to enlarge.

The Flexible Bail weighs next to nothing and takes up almost no space in your pack. It folds down small enough that you probably have space for it in the same pouch that carries your water bottles. Every ounce counts when you are carry everything you need to survive for multiple days and the function of this Flexible Bail far overcomes its small weight penalty.

The Flexible Bail easily folds down to about the same diameter as a Nalgene/Guyot bottle (it can be folded even smaller if you choose). Click to enlarge.

This Flexible Bail is so simple and so functional that this review nearly wrote itself. If you own stainless Guyot Bottles, but you don’t own one of these Flexible Bails you are missing out on the full experience of what these bottles can do. Marion Outdoors really has a winner on their hands.

The Flexible Bail is compact even when it is completely unfolded. Click to enlarge.

 

You can contact Marion to order your own Flexible Bail at BladeForums or on his blog, Marion Carry.

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Tango Down BG-17 BATTLEGRIP

Tango Down has been making the BG-16 BATTLEGRIP for years and it has secured its status as a classic. If there was one complaint about the BG-16 it was that it was too small from some shooters with larger hands. So, in response to their customers, Tango Down has now released the BG-17 BATTLERGIP.

The BG-17 is basically just a larger version of the BG-16. It features the same great ergonomic shape, texture, and storage system of the original. It also retains the small tab that covers the gap under the trigger guard and adds an extension up the rear curve of the receiver. I like grips with this kind of extension because they increase trigger reach which forces me to engage the trigger with my finger tip.

If you found the original BATTLEGRIP (BG-16) to be too small for your liking, then you will definitely want to take a look at the new BG-17 BATTLEGRIP.

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Limited Edition Vickers Tactical Carbine from Daniel Defense

If your idea of what makes a well equipped carbine is the same as Larry Vicker’s, you may want to check out the limited edition Vicker Tactical Carbine from Daniel Defense. This carbine is ready to run the second you take it out of the box. It features a BCM Gunfighter charging handle, Surefire X300, Daniel Defense RIS II rail system, and much more.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzNh3ubGWG0]

The Vickers Tactical Carbine will be limited to 250 units, so if you want one, you should probably be on the phone with Daniel Defense right now.

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Handgun Sight Review: AmeriGlo I-Dot Pro

Good things happen when you combine the best of two excellent handgun sights. That is exactly what AmeriGlo did when they developed the I-Dot Pro sights. They combined the innovative front sight from the Hackathorn sights and excellent rear sight from the  I-Dot sights. The results are amazing.

You can't miss this front sight! This picture approximates the shooter's point of view (on a Glock 17 RTF2 for reference). Click to enlarge.

Stats

  • Front sight width: .140″ (note: this is slightly wider than the standard I-Dot front)
  • Rear sight notch: .180″
  • Price: $89

Front Sight

The I-Dot Pro sights borrow the front sight from the Hackathorn sights. It is slightly taller to work with the taller I-Dot rear sight and slightly wider (.140″ versus .125″) to accommodate a large red-orange ring around the tritium vial insert. This red-orange paint makes the front sight amazingly fast to pick up in daylight conditions. It reminds me of a red dot sight or a fiber-optic front sight. You really have to spend some time with this front sight on the range to appreciate it. It works extremely well in low light as well thanks to the tritium vial insert.

The bright red ring on the front sight is borrowed from the Hackathorn sights. Click to enlarge.

Rear Sight

The rear sight is identical to the rear sight used for the I-Dot sights which is to say that it is excellent. The notch is relatively wide (like most AmeriGlo rear sights) at .180″. This makes it faster and easier to find the front sight when the gun is brought to eye level on the draw stroke. The rear sight is also undercut which really cuts down on glare.

The bottom corners of the notch are rounded similar to a u-notch (unlike a true u-notch, the bottom is flat). These rounded corners serve to remove all of the hard edges from the sight picture except the important ones.

The rear sight features a single tritium vile insert that does not have a white outline which makes it appear smaller than the insert in the front sight. Everything about this rear sight is designed to help you focus on the front sight.

The I-Dot Pro rear sight features a single tritium vile that is not outlined and a wide notch with rounded corners. Click to enlarge.

The rear sight has many of it’s edges melted so it is snag free. However, the leading edge of the rear sight is left squared so that the sight can be used to cycle the slide in an emergency by catching it on a belt, holster, table top, or any other suitable surface. This may be an important feature if you train one handed manipulations.

The I-Dot Pro rear sight has mostly "melted" corners except the leading edge which is intentionally left squared. Notice the slight undercutting of the rear sight. Click to enlarge.

In Use

These perform very well on the range. The wide rear notch makes finding the front sight very fast and easy. I didn’t see much of a difference in my splits between the I-Dot Pros and the standard I-Dots but there is something very confidence inspiring about knowing that you will be able to find that huge red dot quickly. The red dot becomes even more brilliant in sunlight. It is tough to miss.

I didn’t see any measurable accuracy decrease from the wider front sight (versus the standard I-Dots). If anything, the wider front seems to align more intuitively than the narrower front on the standard I-Dots. I was less distracted by the “daylight” showing on either side of the front sight. This may have to do with the proportions of the front sight to the wide rear notch.

The 2 dot set up is very intuitive in low light. The front tritium vial insert seems brighter and it grabs my focus naturally. Low light shooting is difficult enough as it is so it is nice that these sights really seem to work with you rather than against you as with some 3 dot night sight set ups.

AmeriGlo continues to innovate. By combining the best features from two successful sight sets, they have created a set of sights that is more than the sum of its parts. The I-Dot Pro sights offer a balance of speed and precision while performing exceptionally well in both daylight and low light conditions. These sights, at this price, are pretty hard to beat.

Check out the AmeriGlo I-Dot Pros at AmeriGlo’s website.

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