The much anticipated ESEE Candiru and Laser Strike are available for pre-order at The-Knife-Connection! This is the first look at the pricing on these upcoming models. Both will be available sometime in March.
ESEE Candiru
Check out the Candiru and Laser Strike on The-Knife-Connection.com.
ESEE Laser Strike
It has been several months since I reviewed a prototype of the BAD-CASS-SA from Battle Arms Development. I was seriously impressed with its combination of the proven lever designs of the BAD-ASS and the new robust dovetail attachment method. Well, after all these months, I am happy to say that the production version is finally available.
The dovetail design stems from the BAD-CASS-SA’s combat ready heritage. It is a semi-auto revision of the original BAD-CASS-3P which was Battle Arms Development’s idea of what a bomb-proof 3 position selector switch should be. The dovetail interface of the levers takes all the stress off of the screws that attach the lever to the selector core. Even if a screw was to break somehow, the fit is tight enough that the lever can actually be retained through hundreds of cycles (see my review).
Many of the same lever options that make the BAD-ASS great are also available on the BAD-CASS-3P. My preferred set up is to use a “Standard” lever on the bolt stop side and a “Short” lever on the ejection port side. This configuration keeps the ejection port side lever mostly out of the way of my trigger finger but still provides plenty of surface area for positive manipulation on my support side. You can choose 2 out of 4 available levers when you purchase the BAD-CASS-SA.
The best news of all might be that the BAD-CASS-SA will also be available in a short throw version. The BAD-CASS-ST-SA features Battle Arms Development’s pioneering 45 degree short throw core design. I have reviewed the short throw version of the BAD-ASS and I think it is probably the way the selector should have been designed in the first place. It is excellent.
This is probably my favorite Battle Arms Development selector yet. You can get your own BAD-CASS-SA or the short throw BAD-CASS-ST-SA at BattleArmsDevelopment.com.
Ares Armor has expanded their Atalanta line with a slick new chest rig and armor carrier.
The Atalanta Slim Chest Rig – Split Front is the newest chest rig in the Atalanta line. As you can tell from the name, its key feature is its ability to split open. This not only makes donning and doffing the rig much easier but it can also make laying in a prone position more comfortable. Many split front chest rigs have a gap of unusable space where the two halves of the chest rig are joined but the Atalanta Slim Chest Rig – Split Front chest rig has unique design that allows the chest rig to lay flat without a gap. You would never even know it is a split front rig at a glance.
The Atalanta Modular Armor Carrier is an armor carrier that goes from slick concealment carrier to full kit with the snap of a few side release buckles. The modular design allows any of the Atalanta chest rigs to be mounted on the front of the carrier and the Combat XII Pack can be attached to the back. This allows the the Atalanta Modular Armor Carrier to quickly scale to the user’s specific requirements. An Atalanta All MOLLE Chest Rig is included.
Check out AresArmor.com for more details.
Many shooters spend time on the range honing their emergency reloads into smooth, efficient actions. But, how many shooters spend time on the range practicing magazine management as an underlying structure and strategy for success with their reloads? There are actions that you can take before the emergency reload that can increase your efficiency, or better yet, preclude the need for an emergency reload all together.
Magazine management is simply the act of rotating your magazines in your chest rig, belt rig, or plate carrier so that you maximize the chance of having a magazine in the optimal position for reloading when you need one. It is a dynamic decision making process that is happening at each reload and with just a little forethought and practice, it can be second nature.
Each shooter’s strategy for magazine management will vary based on the way that they carry magazines, the shooter’s strong hand, and other factors. The first step toward developing your strategy is identifying where your fastest reload comes from.
As a general rule, your fastest reload will come from the pouch that is closest to your support hand (non-dominant hand) simply because this will be the easiest to reach. Open top pouches will be faster than those with flaps or retention of some kind. Additionally, it is generally faster to reload from belt level than from chest rig level. This combination of factors is why many shooters will place an open top magazine pouch on the support side of their belt to serve as a dedicated emergency reload location.
Once you have identified the fastest reload location, you should order the rest in terms of speed and ease of use. Generally, the closer your magazine pouch is to your weapon side (dominant hand), the slower and more difficult it will be to reach.
Lets look at the simplified example of a 3 cell chest rig. The fastest reload will be the one closest to the support hand which is the pouch marked with a 1. The slowest reload is closest to the weapon hand which is the pouch marked with a 3.
Now that you have ranked your pouches in order based on speed and ease of reach, you have already done much of the work. You can use this information to develop your magazine management strategy. Remember, the goal is to always have a magazine available in the fastest reload location. This is accomplished by choosing which pouch you reload from based on the situation and rotating magazines when possible.
Speed is not the emphasis with administrative and “tactical” reloads so they should come from your slowest pouches. Using our example chest rig from above, this means that an administrative or tactical reload will come with pouch 3. By choosing to complete your reloads that do not require speed from your slowest pouches, you help ensure that there will be a magazine available in your fastest reload location during an emergency reload.
Let’s carry our example further. You have just completed a administrative reload from pouch 3 and completed a course of fire. Before you start the next course of fire, it might be wise to complete another tactical reload from pouch 2 so that you can start the next course of fire with a topped off rifle. By keeping your rifle topped off from the slowest location, you accomplish two things. Most importantly, you reduce the chance that you will need an emergency reload at all and secondly you keep that all important fastest pouch ready to go with a fresh reload.
What if you run through a course of fire that requires an emergency reload and find yourself with a moment before the next course of fire begins? This is an excellent time to rotate magazines. Top off your weapon, then take the magazines from your slowest pouches and move them over to your fastest pouches. Remember, the goal is to always have magazines ready in your fastest pouches.
Back to our example chest rig. If you emergency reload from pouch 1 and you find yourself in a lull in the action, rotate the magazine from the slowest available pouch (2 or 3) into pouch 1. Now you are ready for another emergency reload.
If you have magazines in multiple locations like on a belt and chest rig, it can help to think of your gear in a layered approach. I choose to use a belt rig as my base line since I carry a firearm daily. It makes sense for me to reinforce going to the belt for my reload in training since the same motions will work for reloading my handgun or my carbine. If I am taking a carbine course, I will always have my belt rig on but I usually only have a chest rig on if the round count and pace of the course requires additional magazines.
My belt is typically going to be my fastest reload location. I think of my belt as my main support gear while my chest rig is secondary. The belt feeds my rifle and the chest rig feeds my belt. I am constantly rotating magazines from my chest rig to my belt to ensure that there is always a reload available in my fastest location.
Magazine management isn’t rocket surgery. Identify your fastest reload locations, choose your reload location based on the situation, top off, and rotate. Identify your strategy at home, practice it on the range, and soon it will be second nature.
The TAC.U Combat Shirt from Propper isn’t new but until now it hasn’t been available in Multicam.
The sleeves of the TAC.U Combat Shirt are made from Propper’s Battle Rip fabric and the torso is made from a 60%/40% Cotton/Polyester blend that provides comfort and moisture wicking when worn under a plate carrier. Unlike many other combat shirts which have solid color torsos, the entire TAC.U Combat Shirt is covered with the Multicam pattern which increases its utility as a stand alone shirt when not used in conjunction with armor.
You can order your Multicam TAC.U Combat Shirt on PredatorBDU.com.
