New Gear

I'm a gear whore. I can admit it, and apparently that's the hardest part. I love equipment. I like researching it, I like buying it, I like just having it. Recently, I've purchased (or received) some cool gear and I figured I'd share the items and why I like them, in case any of you are similarly afflicted.

Roeckl Roeck-GRIP Gloves:

Mine are black, but you get the idea. They are called "DAS EINZIGARTIGE ORIGINAL" on the website (http://www.roeckl.de/sports/index.html). They're actually equestrian gloves which sort of turned me off to them at first. In case you didn't know, I'm not big on horses. In any case, my family and I were discussing tactical gloves at Christmas (because that's how we roll), and my little sister mentioned these gloves she wears for riding. They sounded pretty cool and absolutely perfect for what I needed. They're incredibly thin and form-fitting. I can still use a cell phone, keyboard, calculator, etc. while wearing them. They're also thin enough that you don't need to cut the trigger finger off to avoid messing up your trigger feel. Beauty! Another awesome feature is their durability. They're made of some kind of extremely grippy aramid fiber, so they're highly abrasion resistant. Other aramids include Kevlar and Nomex, so they're in good company. The other nice thing is that this makes them machine washable, unlike leather. The guy at the store and my sister have both said that they last longer than just about any other glove on the market, and that you will probably lose them before they wear out. For $50, how can you say no?

I'm not sure exactly when I'll be wearing them just yet. I'm thinking light yard work (nothing involving sharp stuff, just for grip and to avoid blisters from chopping wood or whatever) and probably summer shooting. The grip they give is incredible, and even with my Hogue grips my hand still gets slippery after shooting a while in the sun. I think these will help take care of that very nicely.

Cold Steel Magnum Machete:
I've got the 'Magnum' version, which means it's a little longer and a little less of a traditional kukri shape. Still, it's a beast of a machete. It isn't too heavy overall, but the balance is all the way at the tip, making it an ideal chopper. I decided on this one after seeing how well it did at www.knifetests.com/ compared with knives that cost 10-20 times more. For about $20, this thing is a beater that won't let you down. I got it for Christmas, so I haven't had a chance to take it out camping or anything yet, but I'll definitely let everyone know how it performs. The grip is solid and the handle shape is very well-designed. It feels comfortable to hold, but it still has a tendency to grab you back. I've held a number of knives and guns that have such an aggressive grip that you don't actually want to put it in your hand. This isn't one of those, for which I'm very thankful.

The reasoning behind the shape on this one is to give you multiple areas of the blade to work with, each of which is suited to a different task. The tip is sharp and can be used to dig into things, the base near the handle is sharp and can be used to shave down spikes or whatever, and the beef of the blade is a little duller, but heavy enough to chop through most anything. You can also see examples of people using the back of the blade as an effective bludgeon. All of these abilities are due to the unique shape. Having the balance so far forward gives an incredible amount of power to your strikes. it does reduce your ability to recover quickly, or to change direction mid-swing, but this isn't an epée. It's meant for heavy duty business, and it is well-suited to such.

SOG Fusion Fixation Bowie:

This is my newest knife after a long line of pretty crappy cheap knives. I have to say, you can really tell the difference between a crappy knife and a good knife as soon as you pick it up. This still isn't a top-of-the-line knife by any means. It cost me right around $40 including shipping from Amazon.com, and SOG has an MSRP on it of $50 (http://sogknives.com/store/FX-01.html). Even so, the quality of design and construction is apparent. It's a big thing, just over 12" long in total, and it has some heft to it. It also came out of the box already ludicrously sharp. Not just "Man, that's a sharp knife" sharp, but "Cuts through schools" sharp. I spent at least three days just playing with the thing, holding it and moving it around in my hands. It is comfortable, like it was made to fit a hand (which it was, but many knife-makers seem to have forgotten this fact). The length and thickness of the blade (over 1/8" thick, but less than 1/4") gives it a feeling of power, while the shape and balance gives it grace. This is not a working knife, this is a fighting knife. I'll take it camping and try it out on some things, but it isn't designed for chopping or sawing or anything else. Still, it has the feel of a knife that could do any job you threw at it at least pretty well.

Insight Arcturus:
This is probably the coolest flashlight ever (picture shows the new version from http://www.insighttechgear.com/products-hx150r.htm), especially for the price. After doing an unconscionable amount of research on flashlights, I finally decided on this one. It's about $125 depending on where you can find it, which puts it at about half to one third the cost of a lot of tactical flashlights on the market. It's about 6 inches long, made of aluminum, with a knurled exterior that gives a firm, comfortable grip. It's activated by a tail-cap switch, and different modes are available all from the single tail-cap. You push once and release to go into bright mode, and it will stay on until you push the button again. A half-push gives you momentary activation. A quick double-push gives you a freakishly bright strobe. A push and hold will turn on bright but quickly dim to a very nice level for reading or finding your way in the dark. The battery is rechargeable, and you get about 2.5-3 hours of bright light or a whopping 300 hours of dim light from one charge. The aluminum face is beveled, giving an aggressive striking surface in close quarters, but the back end isn't sharp at all so you don't stab yourself trying to grab it out of your pocket. It also has an available long-gun mount and momentary switch. It's also waterproof to 15 feet. With the features, quality of construction, run time and sheer blinding power (about 125-150 lumens in bright mode) you would be looking at a $300 price tag from most other manufacturers. Most of those aren't rechargeable or LED, either. Really just a fantastic flashlight for anyone who wants something small and light enough to be hooked on a belt, but powerful enough to throw a beam out to a couple hundred yards or completely blind an intruder in your home.

More to come!