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Review: SaltStick Electrolyte Caps

By on July 19, 2018 in Reviews, Tactics and Training

If you are reading this blog, it is probably safe to assume that you enjoy a lot of same pursuits that I do and a lot of those pursuits, like shooting, training, and hiking, happen outdoors. If you enjoy these activities, you know the importance of hydration. No one wants to get sidelined on a hike or feel wrecked on day two of a carbine course because they didn’t monitor their hydration. You can’t get that lost time and money back.

I used to play organized sports year round and I drank a lot of water to try to stay hydrated. However, I still found myself dizzy with headaches, cramps, and sick to my stomach on a regular basis. That was likely because I was taking in too much water without also being intentional about adding nutrition and electrolytes. I added sports drinks to my hydration regime which helped dramatically.

As I have grown older, I’ve become more conscious of the amount of sugar that many sports drinks contain (especially when you are drinking them one after the other) so I started looking for a way to add electrolytes while reducing my sugar intake. That search lead me to a number of products that work very well but the one that has been the most convenient is SaltStick Electrolyte Caps.

Basically, these are capsules that contain an electrolyte mix that mimics the types and amounts of electrolytes actually lost in sweat during 30-60 minutes of strenuous activity. I like to take one with my first drink of water and then take another every hour or two based on my activity level and how much water I am taking in. Since SaltStick Caps contain only electrolytes (no other nutrition or sugars), I am able to keep my electrolyte intake and nutrition intake separate which makes it easier for me to keep track. I make sure I am drinking water and periodically adding solid nutrition like fruit, nuts, granola bars, etc. and the capsules handle the rest.

I don’t have any quantifiable lab results but I can offer some long term anecdotal evidence. These capsules have worked for me for more than 3 years. I deal with temps in the 90s and humidity below 20 percent during the summer months. If you hike, run a chainshaw for a few hours in protective gear, or do some training on the range in that kind of weather… you will need to be on your hydration game. I have not had a single dizzy/headache episode since I started using SaltStick and, for me, that is really saying something.

I should also mention that at a cost of about $.20 per capsule (when you buy 100 at a time), they are less expensive than pre-mixed sports drinks! In my experience, they work better. You also don’t need to clean them out of your bottles and hydration bladders like sticky drink mixes!

I have only used the regular SaltStick caps but they also make SaltStick Plus cap which have some caffeine and SaltStick chews. I have never found SaltStick locally which is kind of a bummer but they are readily available online. I have purchased all of mine from Amazon (affiliate link): SaltStick on Amazon

SIRT Pistol Optical Trainer

By on July 16, 2018 in Tactics and Training

Next Level Training will release their SIRT Pistol Optical Trainer soon. The Optical Trainer is a simple frame (no glass or internals) that replaces the rear sight on the SIRT Training Pistol. It has no aiming point of its own but instead it uses the trigger take up laser to approximate a dot sight. You can see it in action in the video below.

NextLevelTraining.com

Tier 1 Citizen: The Bag Gun

By on June 11, 2018 in Guns, Tactics and Training

Tier 1 Citizen is offering a new training course called The Bag Gun. The course details how to set up a bag to carry a SBR/pistol/PDW in a way that fits your life, how to deploy the gun from the bag, and other considerations. More and more people are adopting this sort of discreet PDW concept and this would be a good chance to shake out your set up to see if really works.

Tier 1 Citizen: The Bag Gun

Kit Badger Anatomy Target (KBAT) Update – New Target Pad

By on June 7, 2018 in Tactics and Training

Kit Badger’s KBAT targets were previously only available as a free download. They are still available as a free download but they are also available in a new convenient, pre-printed, tear-off pad format.

The target pads each include 50 sheets and fit in most range bags easily. Each sheet is double sided with the head target printed on one side of the 100 pound paper and the thoracic cavity printed on the other. This allows the shooter to use either target individually or to simply use two sheets to use both targets together.

You can read more on the background of these targets in our previous post: HERE

The targets may be purchased directly from KitBadger.com or on Amazon.com (affiliate link).

Kit Badger KBAT – Well Designed, Easy to Live With Targets for Shooters

By on May 22, 2018 in Tactics and Training

There are a lot of human silhouette targets on the market and many of them share the same issues. They are larger than will fit in any reasonable range bag or than can be printed at home and they offer unrealistic target indicators to the shooter. Ivan at Kit Badger has set out to create a target, the Kit Badger Anatomy Target (KBAT), to address these issues.

The Problems

If you shoot anywhere other than an improved range with comfortable parking and easy access, you know the pain of hauling all your gear to your shooting spot. If an item doesn’t fit in a range bag that can mean it has to be carried outside the pack or worse – it requires an extra trip. Large targets that must be rolled are just another item to carry and you will likely never be able to print them yourself.

Even if getting your gear to the range isn’t an issue for you, the issue of unrealistic target indicators applies to most targets. The proportions and the very presence of things like scoring zones can skew the perception of the shooter. Anatomy doesn’t mimic the scoring zones on most targets and real people don’t have scoring zones tattooed on their bodies. The only real markers we have are things like ears, eyes, the nose, and the relative positions of anatomy in relation to the overall shape and orientation of the body.

The Fix

I’ve been fortunate enough to have access to the KBATs for a while now and they do a good job of addressing the issues above. The target is actually a pair of targets that can be used together to create a representation of all of the vital human anatomy or separately as a head and chest target depending on the shooter’s needs.

The KBATs can be printed on standard 8.5 x 11″ paper on your printer at home. They can then be applied to any backer or you can cut your own and trim it to the bold target lines. You probably have room in your range bad to store a whole stack of them.

All of the vital anatomy rendered in very light lines which makes them difficult to target specifically. The outline of the human form is rendered in heavier, bold lines so that the shape of the body and items like ears are really the only target indicators you have to work with. These various underlying anatomical elements are also rendered in realistic proportions so the brain stem area for instance, is rendered in its realistic size and location which is actually a bit lower than they way most of us train to target this area. If you want to color in other indicators like eyes or the nose, you can easily add it with a marker based on the underlying anatomy.

How to Add KBATs to Your Training

The KBATs are currently available as a free download from Kit Badger’s website here: KitBadger.com/KBAT

Soon, they will be available as a printed pad of targets that will offer the shooter even more utility (and a great price compared to many targets on the market). Stay tuned for more details on this.

I strongly suggest you read Kit Badger’s site and view the video so you can get the most out of this free resource. There are a number of ways these can be used and modified to suite your needs.

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