Category Archives: Gear Review

Black Leatherman Wave with Nylon MOLLE Sheath

by SurvivalGuy Posted on March 8, 2013

I’ve owned about half a dozen Leatherman multi tools since my days in the Army. In the 90′s while a soldier with limited access to tools I put the Leatherman’s through their paces. I managed to break quite a few of them doing really stupid things which they weren’t designed for but the company always replaced the tool no questions asked. During my younger more adventurous days I bought a couple of Gerber multi tools as well but they broke a lot faster and their lack of a needle nose pliers made me become a Leatherman fan.

My most recent edition is a black Leatherman Wave with a nylon MOLLE sheath. I mounted this tool on my training gear so I always have a Leatherman handy when I go out. The two features that made this a must have was the MOLLE sheath and the small flat head screw driver that I can use to adjust locking screws on sights and my glasses. If you have glasses and are about to lose a screw you know how important that option is.

The overall fit and finish of the black Leatherman Wave is good. It’s a little stiff at first but that goes away with use. The black finish could be better and it comes off on your hands for the first few dozen times you handle it. That too will go away after a break in period. When I was reading the reviews on this multi tool some people said as much and suggested getting the stainless steel one but you know the old adage “Once you go black you never go back.” Tongue in cheek jokes aside I’m very happy with the black version of the Leatherman Wave.

 

Black_Leatherman_Wave

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Petzl E89 PD Tactikka XP Headlamp

by SurvivalGuy Posted on November 10, 2011

One of my favorite all around pieces of gear in the car, the house or in any of my go bags is the Petzl Tactikka headlamp. I received my first Petzl headlamp from a former coworker of mine who was an avid rock climber. He didn’t like it because it was camouflage. His loss was my gain since I love camo. The headlamp came with several different plastic inserts that you could use to diffuse the light. I popped in the red filter and threw out the rest.

Since I got the first one for free I was hooked. The headlamp took three AAA batteries and they lasted forever. The headlamp had several different power settings and even has a boost button that increased the output temporarily. The flaw with the boost button was that it needed to be pressed down continuously in order to work. Aside from that I have used this wonderful headlamp for years without any issues. I’ve lent it to friends who were going on trips and they used and abused and it’s still going strong.

I recently checked Petzl’s website and they have a lot of newer and fancier headlamps that I could choose from but since I know this model works so well I don’t want to change things up and possibly get disappointed.

So to summarize I’ve had a Petzl E89 PD Tactikka XP headlamp for several years now and I am very impressed with its durability and battery life. The headlamp takes three AAA batteries. The batteries are easy to come by and are not that expensive. This headlamp will use the same set of batteries for over a month when using it on the lowest setting and is really durable.

PETZL Headlamp

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Firearm Degreaser – SLIP 2000

by SurvivalGuy Posted on November 3, 2011

In my previous post about the Handgun 101 Sig Sauer Academy Handgun Orientation I did not recommend a degreaser for gun owners. After speaking to a friend of mine he suggested SLIP 2000. He saw it being used on the Magpul Training videos by instructors Travis Haley and Chris Costa.

After visiting the website and reading some reviews it seems just like the product for those of us who want to get our firearms clean as a whistle. Let me know what you think if you try it.

SLIP 2000

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Firearm Bill of Sale Template

by SurvivalGuy Posted on September 27, 2011

For those of us that live in states that allow transfers of firearms between private parties then the document below will point you in the right direction. Before you download the document and go forth and sell and or buy guns keep this disclaimer in mind. I’m not a lawyer, I don’t advocate using this document in place of legal advice.

I’m just a blogger, what the hell does a blogger know about the law anyway, so for your sake and mine talk to a lawyer and make sure the person you are buying from or selling to passes the comfort test. By the comfort test I mean do I trust this guy/gal with a gun or did this guy/gal is seemingly trustworthy enough to buy a gun from? Words to mull over, indeed.

Firearm Bill of Sale

Firearm Bill of Sale

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Hatch Centurion Neck Protector with Kevlar Torture Test

by SurvivalGuy Posted on August 8, 2011

I bought a Hatch Neck Protector with Kevlar to test. I wanted to see if it provided adequate protection against a slashing attack to the throat. This test was mostly for my curiosity and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The first thing I did was take two knives and slash against the neck protector while holding it down against a piece of plywood. I used a Grayman folder and a Spyderco G2. Both of the knives were very sharp. The neck protector was unaffected by slashes while using slight to moderate force. I then applied an extreme amount of force to the neck protector with both knives and the material started to cut apart. I kept cutting the material just to see how easily it would separate. To put it in perspective the amount of force that I used to cut the material was enough to crush my throat if someone attacked me with a knife.

Overall I was a little bit disappointed that I was able to cut the material. If I was relying on the Hatch neck protector with out testing it first I might have had an unrealistic sense of protection in a knife attack during a tactical situation. Check out the pictures of the neck protector before and after below.

Before Centurion Neck Protector

Centurion Neck Protector After

Grayman Spyderco Knives

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PTR-91 Scope/Mount Combination

by SurvivalGuy Posted on June 23, 2011

Several people have asked what kind of scope and mount combination I have been running on my PTR-91 since I put up pictures with a previous post. I decided to put a Low Profile Rail Scope Mount on my PTR-91 instead of a STANAG Steel Claw Mount to keep the scope as close to the rifle as possible. I then mounted a MOA Vortex Viper PST 1-4×24 scope in a ADR-X 2 inch Offset Cantilever Ring Mount.

The above combination is rock solid and very accurate. It was rather costly but worth every penny. The scope and mount were an investment and I can use them on different rifles in the future if I ever decide to sell my PTR-91.

ptr 91 scope

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Accusharp: Knife and Tool Sharpener

by SurvivalGuy Posted on May 26, 2011

I came across the Accusharp: Knife and Tool Sharpener at a local store a couple of months ago. The cashier at the store said that it’s the best knife sharpener he has ever come across. I took his opinion with a grain of salt and paid for my purchase. I took the sharpener home at tested it on a kitchen knife. It worked very well and then I put it in my kitchen drawer and forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago.

Since I just rediscovered the sharpener I wanted to try it out on a few of my older knives. I bought a KA-BAR knife and a Cold Steel push dagger about 17 years ago. Both of these knives have been with me through the military and all the years since. The knife sharpener worked really well on both of the knives and I was really happy with the outcome. The knife sharpener is not perfect. It got my knives pretty sharp but they weren’t razor sharp. I would take the knives to a wet stone to make them extraordinarily sharp. Considering the sharpener was under $12 I think it’s a good purchase if your considering an easy to use knife sharpener for the house. Here are some pics below.

Accusharp Kinife Sharpener

Kabar_Knife

Cold Steel Dagger

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Elzetta Flashlight Mount for Mossberg 590

by SurvivalGuy Posted on May 16, 2011

I picked up an Elzetta Tactical Flashlight Mount for my Mossberg 590 last week since I heard great things about the company. The mount is very solid and holds my flashlight in a death grip. There is no way that the flashlight is going to come off the gun short of taking a hammer to it. I also added a Mossberg Speed Feed stock and a Tac Star Side Saddle to the gun. I wanted to get everything ready for a tactical shotgun course I’m taking in three weeks. I’ll have more about the training and the gear that I brought to it after the course is completed. In the mean time here are a bunch of pics of the gun and the accessories. As a side note I greased all the internal parts with white lithium grease and the gun action is as smooth as silk.

Mossberg 590 Elzetta Tactical Mount

Mossberg 590 Side Saddle

Mossberg 590 Speed Feed Stock

Elzetta Flashlight Mount

Elzetta Flashlight Mount

Elzetta Flashlight Mount

Elzetta Flashlight Mount

Elzetta Flashlight Mount

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Gun and Gear for Defensive Rifle / Carbine Operator Course

by SurvivalGuy Posted on May 2, 2011

A buddy of mine asked what kind of equipment I brought to the defensive rifle course that I took a month ago. Here is a list of the gear I brought.

The rifle was a Stag Arms Model 2 with an EOTech 556.65 sight, a Midwest Industries AR-15 MCTAR-30HD sling adapter, a Specter Gear Viper Sling II, a MagPul Angled Forend Grip, a LED Lenser V2 Flashlight, a Safariland Rapid Light System and a pair of UTG AR-15 Handguard Picatinny Rails to mount the grip and flashlight on.

My ammo carrier was a Specter Gear M-1 Mk-2 Chest Carrier with a Bianchi Double AR15 Pouch clipped on the left side.

Seven Pre-Ban magazines. I should have brought more so I could have saved some time on reloading.

A generic range bag with 500 rounds of 5.56, a can of oil (very important), extra AA batteries, rifle cleaning kit, pocket knife, a set of screw drivers, files, allen keys, small hand towel, Purel hand sanitizer, two sandwiches, snacks, three bottles of water and a red bull. I also brought a Individual First Aid Kit aka IFAK that was clipped to the outside of my bag and a set of Columbia Water Proof Pants and Columbia Water Proof Jacket. These two items are great because they go over your regular clothes. I bought the appropriate sized pants so they were not baggy and I could stay maneuverable. I made sure to buy a larger size jacket so I can put it over my winter jacket if necessary. Last but not least a pair of Blackhawk Waterproof Tactical Boots.

I made sure to have my rifles EOTech 556 sight and my backup iron sights sighted in at 25 meters before going to the class. I also put about 300 rounds through the rifle in the two weeks before the course to make sure it was performing properly. Here is a pic of the rifle and my target that I used to sight in the EOTech 556. I included links to the targets so you can download them and print them out for your own use.

Stag Model 2

25 Meter Sight In

25 Meter Target Torso

25 Meter Target Full

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Kabar TDI Straight Edge Knife Comparison

by SurvivalGuy Posted on April 14, 2011

A couple of people who read my previous post were wondering how well the full size TDI knife compares against the smaller TDI Law Enforcement Knife. Since it was brought up I thought I should do a side by side comparison.

The smaller TDI knife has a slightly thinner handle and is a bit more comfortable. The downside is that the blade is smaller. The best feature about the smaller knife is that it has a larger finger groove that will help prevent your fingers from sliding across the blade. The larger TDI knife has a longer blade and a thicker handle that is slightly less angled. The larger TDI knife is slightly easier to conceal because the handle doesn’t stick out at a more extreme angle.

Both knives conceal really well and are very light. The construction of the knives is excellent and I did not see any sloppy machine markings on either of them.  Considering they are both under $60 each, depending which options you get, you can eventually buy both and not regret it. If I had to choose between the two I would select the smaller one for daily carry because of the more secure grip. As always there are pictures below.

tdi_comparison_left

tdi_comparison_right

tdi_comparison_sheath_left

tdi_comparison_sheath_right

Small TDI on the Left – Large TDI on the Right

tdi_comparison

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