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TangoDown BG-18 – Familiar Like an Old Friend

By on December 29, 2016 in Reviews

I purchased by first AR-15 shortly after leaving college and finding gainful employment. That was about 15 years ago. The first thing I added to that AR-15 was a TangoDown BG-16. I liked its comfortable contoured design, clever battery storage, and pebbled texture so much that I ended up with 4 of them as my collection of AR-15s grew.

Later, some wrist injuries would lead me down the path to more vertical and hand filling grips but I missed those old BG-16s. Few other grips I tried could match the comfort of the simple contours and just-right texture on the BG-16, until… The BG-18 came along.

The I’ve been using a BG-18 for a while now and I am thrilled with it. It has everything I love about the BG-16. The flowing contours are intact and so is the excellent texture. In fact, I think the texture may even be slightly improved over my earlier BG-16s. It does however lack the battery storage, which I don’t really miss that much.

While the BG-16 was more raked back and slender, similar in size and angle to the A2 grip, the BG-18 is more vertical and hand filling. TangoDown has designed it with a tang that rides up over “beaver tail” area of the lower receiver to let the shooter get a higher grip while also moving their hand back for better trigger finger placement. Overall, the grip looks and feels just like a BG-16 but even more comfortable.

Putting a TangoDown BG-18 on one of my most shot AR-15s feels a lot like meeting an old friend again.

Tip: Fiskars Axes and Chipped Edges

By on December 28, 2016 in Knives

I generally like axes and mauls with wood handles because they can be repaired fairly easily and I find them more comfortable to use. That said, sometimes you want an axe or hatchet that you don’t mind leaving outside or for using in ways that you shouldn’t necessarily use them. That is why I own and use several Fiskars axes, hatchets, and mauls.

I recently posted a picture of a Fiskars X27 Splitting Axe that I have grown to like quite a bit on Instagram. Several of you chimed in with your experiences as well which were mostly positive. However, a reader sent me a message regarding their experience with Fiskars axes which included the edge chipping during the first time they used it. Every single one of mine has done the same thing so I figured I should post what I have learned here.

Fiskars axes, for whatever reason, seem to be prone to chipping… at least on the factory edge. There is online speculation that this is due to the heat treatment being ruined during whatever automated sharpening process these axes go through at the factory. I don’t really know but I do know that they will chip and that there is an easy solution.

All you need to do is file the original edge back to remove the problem steel. Once you have removed the steel at the very edge, it will be far less prone to chipping. I also take that opportunity to round over the bevel to improve chopping performance. I generally take a file to them before I even use them now but you can also wait until the chipping happens and then file back until the chips are removed.

This isn’t earth shattering news and I am not the first to do it. Don’t give up on a Fiskars axe just because of some minor edge chipping. There is good steel under there somewhere.

Lunar Concepts SOCP Sheath

By on December 27, 2016 in EDC, Knives

Lunar Concepts’ new Benchmade SOCP Sheath offers a lot of functionality that some users may find to be missing in the original equipment sheath. It features a slim, compact, user-configurable design that allows it to be mounted in a number of ways including with a single soft loop for IWB use or 2 soft loops for horizontal carry on the belt.

The initial offering of this sheath sold out quickly. Keep your eyes on Lunar Concepts (LCEquipped.com) to be part of the second run.

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