Archive | Reviews

10-8 Performance Sights

When you think 10-8 Performance, you think 1911. While Hilton Yam, owner of 10-8 Performance, does make excellent 1911 accessories and custom 1911s, he also makes excellent sights for a variety of other handguns. The sights that we will be looking at in this article are made for the Glock family of handguns.

 

The 10-8 Performance Sights offer a very uncluttered sight picture even with a tritium vial insert in the front sight (mounted on a Glock 19 for reference). Click to enlarge.

 

Stats

  • Front sight width: .125″
  • Rear sight notch: .140″ (.125″ and .156″ also available)
  • Price: $74 for tritium front sight, $44.35 for rear sight

Front Sight

The 10-8 Performance front sight is thin for a tritium front sight at only .125″ inches wide. It is serrated to reduce glare and the tritium element is unlined. The unlined tritium is what attracted me to these sights. They perform very much like all black target sights when light conditions allow and that makes them very shootable.

 

The 10-8 Performance front sight is relatively thin and serrated. It features an unlined tritium vial insert. Click to enlarge.

 

10-8 Performance also offers plain black and brass bead front sights.

Rear Sight

The rear sight is well contoured. It has an strong, chunky appearance. It can be used fairly easily to rack the slide which is important for some one handed manipulations. It is serrated to reduce glare.

 

 

The rear sight features glare reducing serrations and a .140" rear "U" notch. Click to enlarge.

 

It features a true “U” notch. The bottom of the notch is round instead of square. This leaves the shooter free of hard corners that can distract from aligning the only hard corners that matter; the ones at the top of the front sight and the top of the rear sight.

When I purchased these sights, the only rear sight notch options were available were the .125″ and the .140″. I chose the .140″ rear sight and always wished it was a bit wider. The .140″ notch feels a little tight when you are trying to speed things up. 10-8 Performance recently started offering a rear sight with a .156″ notch. If I was buying these sights today, I would definitely buy the new .156″ notch rear sight.

 

The rear sight has a strong, chunky profile. Click to enlarge.

 

In Use

I shoot these sights better than any other I own in terms of accuracy. The combination of the tighter rear notch and the way that they appear like all black target sights during the day (the tritium vial insert is unlined and barely noticeable until dark). These sights are just very easy to shoot well. The downside is that sometimes I feel like I am searching for the front sight through the narrow rear notch which costs me some time.

That is not to say these sights are slow. They are not. They just are not as fast as some others that I use and 10-8 Performance has essentially rendered this small issue (if you can even call it that) irrelevant with the introduction of the .156″ notch rear sight. I suspect that the new wider rear sight shoots incredibly fast. The intro of the 1.56″ rear notch should be exciting news for the many fans of these sights.

The 10-8 Sights with the .215″ tall front sight shoot exactly the way I like which is about 1-2″ high at 25 yards. This is relatively intuitive after some range time and allows the shooter to see their shots over the sights. I find it to be easier to shoot longer distances this way. If you choose to, you can adjust your point of impact by purchasing a taller or shorter front sight. You can read details on the 10-8 Performance blog.

You can purchase these excellent sights directly from 10-8 Performance on their 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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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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Review: Guyot Designs Stainless Steel Nalgene Bottle

I posted about the very clever flexible bail for Guyot Designs stainless bottles from Marion Outdoors just a few days ago. While the flexible bail is certainly very cool, it dawned on me that I have never posted about the bottles that the bail is designed to work with.

Guyot Design stainless bottles should look very familiar to you. They are essentially just a stainless steel version of the venerable Nalgene bottle. They feature the same wide mouth for easy cleaning and even accept the same lids and accessories as the Nalgene bottles. The Guyot Design bottles are available in a few shapes and sizes but the one that I like best is “The Standard” 38 ounce bottle because it very closely mimics the shape and size of a standard 32 ounce Nalgene.

Guyot Designs also feature a much nicer lid than the standard Nalgene bottles. The lid is attached via a piece of sterling climbing rope that has a two sliders so the rope can easily be separated from the bottle and the lid. Being able to easily remove the lid is a must if you are going to use these bottles on or near fire.

So what makes these worth the extra weight and cost over a standard plastic Nalgene bottle? Versatility. Versatility. Versatility.

These bottles can handle any temperature extreme thanks to their construction. I have hiked in temps that were cold enough to partially freeze my water bottle. That isn’t a problem with a stainless water bottle. You can simply remove the lid, then place it near or even on your fire to thaw your water. It can be used to heat water for cooking and even purify water by boiling in a pinch. They are a truly multi-functional piece of potentially life saving equipment.

The ability to purify water alone makes them worth the extra weight and cost. You have to carry water anyway, so it might as well be in a multi-functional Guyot Designs bottle.

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Review: Brunton 15TDCL Compass

 

Click to enlarge.

 

The Brunton 15TDCL Compass has gone through some changes over the years. For a while, it was the only “true” Silva Ranger Type 15 compass that we could get easily here in the USA. The Silva branded compasses that we have here in the USA are actually made in a variety of countries and sold under the Silva name (you can read more HERE). Brunton used to be importing the real Silva Ranger compasses under their brand but sadly it seems those days are gone. The new 15TDCL compasses are made in China. However, if most 15TDCL compasses are like the one that I am reviewing, they are still very decent compasses.

 

The red bezel gives a unique look and is easy to read. Click to enlarge.

 

Features

  • Adjustable declination
  • Clinometer
  • Luminous points
  • 1:24,000 and 1:50,000 UTM corners
  • Magnifier
  • Lifetime warranty

What Makes it Great?

In spite of my initial disappointment with the compass not being Swedish made, it still retains many of the features that made the Silva Ranger great. It is a lot of compass for the money.

UTM Corners

The best feature of the 15TDCL are the UTM corners on the base plate. I usually use a GPS along with my map and compass. Being able to generate UTM coordinates makes it very easy to translate your GPS information to your map or vice versa. I wish every compass had these on the base plate! They are useful for measuring distance on your map as well.

 

The UTM corners are one of the best features of the 15TDCL. Click to enlarge.

 

Luminous Points

The luminous points on the 15TDCL glow long and strong. They really outclass every compass that I have except my tritium Cammenga lensatic compasses, but that isn’t really a fair comparison. These great luminous points allow the 15TDCL to be used more easily in low light which can be a real asset when you find yourself still a few miles from camp and down in a deep hollow just before sunset.

In Use

A common complaint with some Asian/Pacific made compasses centers on the bezel being able to move too freely. The bezel moves freely but stays in position well on my 15TDCL. Bezel tension is just right. It is also relatively easy to use with gloves and it is very readable. The adjustable declination screw is on the top of the bezel which is nice.

There is a small hole below the mirror that may be some kind of sighting hole like the one on the previously reviewed Suunto MC-2G. However, it is too small and lacks a notch. It just doesn’t work near as well as the well designed sighting hole on the Suunto.

 

This hole works as a lower sighting hole, but it could be larger. Click to enlarge.

 

The 15TDCL is a joy to use with a map thanks to the previously mentioned UTM corners and the 3 silicone “feet”. These feet do a good job of keeping the compass from sliding around on your map. The base plate markings are black but are still pretty readable when used with a map. The markings are also very deeply inset into the base plate which will help it stay readable over years of use.

What Could Be Better?

There is a small amount of “slop” or “play” between the inner compass module and outer ring of the module (the part that has the degree markings). It is a small amount of movement, but I don’t need any more margin of error introduced to my already less than precise orienteering. It hasn’t affected function at this time, but if it gets worse, I will contact Brunton (who has very good customer service).

The marking holes on the UTM corners could be larger. They are so narrow that it takes a very sharp pencil or narrow pen in order to mark your map with them.

Overall

While the 15TDCL may not have the real pedigree of the Silva Ranger anymore, it is still very derivative of the venerable Ranger. If offers a lot of the same functionality. This compass is a solid value in mirrored sighting compasses. It works.

 

Click to enlarge.

 

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