The PowerPot is a A Technology project in Salt Lake City, UT by David Toledo. This seems like a killer product to have on hand in a SHTF scenario. I will chat with these guys and see if we can get a review unit. Im a little backed up on reviews right now but this is such a great ideas for Preppers. Have a look at their video below:
They have a great website with more detailed info about the PowerPot here – kickstarter.com/the-powerpot so check it out.
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AR
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I have been looking for a new hat to shoot with. I love baseball caps but hate the button that’s on the top of them. They have a tendency to give you a headache while wearing ear pro while shooting.
The answer? Arc’teryx LEAF has created the B.A.C. CAP as a standard Operator Hat with a Velcro panel for patches. Arc’teryx has embroidered the Dead Bird logo into the Velcro making it a nice hat to where even without a patch. I keep telling myself that this is stupid to review an Operator Hat but I keep informing those around me how awesome this hat is. I have been told I need to do a review.
Some background if you are not familiar with Arc’teryx or their LEAF division (From LEAF’s Facebook page):
About
Arc’teryx Equipment – Law Enforcement and Armed Forces products.
Mission
At Arc’teryx our central purpose is to build the finest products possible.
Company Overview
Arc’teryx was founded in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 1991, where it maintains its Worldwide Head Office, design studios, and main manufacturing facilities. Our central purpose is to build the best product possible. We don’t focus on incremental advancements, but on radically improving the status quo. Our designers strive not to outdo the competition, but to challenge assumptions about how products sh…See More
Description
Although Arc’teryx has its roots in the climbing world, we realize that the need for better gear exists in many areas. Among the hardest gear users on the planet are the people involved in law enforcement, military operations, peacekeeping missions and security details. The gear they use day in and day out simply has to perform and cannot be allowed to fail. The Arc’teryx Law Enforcement & Armed Forces (LEAF) product line was developed to address those needs.
Out of this Mission I think they may have built the finest Operator Hat available today.
I wanted to see if I could add a little additional grip to the US Palm Battle Grip. What’s nice about stippling this piece is, if you mess it up you can just get a new one, unlike a GLOCK frame – well you could but it would be pricy.
There are two ways to do stippling that I know of; Hot and Cold. Hot is generally done with a soldering iron or a wood burner and you can either make tips to speed up the process or use the tip that came with your tool (will just be slower). In this process you are actually melting the polymer to create small bumps for additional grip. A how-to on the hot method and how to make a custom tip is here.
Cold stippling is the use of a tipped punch to mar the polymer to make the small bums. This way can me more effective at getting just the right amount of feel and a more even look but is more time consuming and requires the proper tools to make item being stippled secure and also for the actual texturing. A good how-to on Cold Stippling is located here.
For the US Palm Battle Grip I used the hot method with a super cheap soldering iron I have laying around. I think I paid $7 for it a few years back from Amazon.
I have done stippling before and the one thing I noticed about the US Palm grip is the polymer is a little harder in a weird way then say a polymer handgun. The melt is just a little longer and the texture is slightly different.
US Palm Battle Grip
My cheap soldering iron
One key item I will add here is the first part of the process, is if you really want it to look good sand down any factor stippling. What this allows is an even texture across the grip, a clean canvas per say. In my case I wish there was just a little more material on the battle grip for my big mits. Because of this I skipped this step as I didn’t want to lose any additional material. I did however melt the line between factory stippling to help blend the two. This actually worked out great but you can still faintly see the outline on spots I didn’t do this to, like the US Palm logo. Continue reading
Great Video from Travis Haley going over whats in his bag (EDC) from a Survival perspective.
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I have a dream of making an AK my primary rifle. That being said I’m not a fan of its ergonomics. I’m not a purest and I don’t really care if I offend any that are. I consider a rifle (any of them) a tool in the shed and if I can create a better tool for me, then I’m all over it.
When I got the M10 I was thinking of leaving on the Romanian folding stock and adding a amd65tech cheek riser. After the dream of the M10 faded and I went with the SGL31, I looked around at the folding stock options and they were expensive. Looks like the days of $40 folding wire stocks are gone. Right around this time, OST (One Source Tactical) came out with a folding knuckle for a commercial buffer tube that would allow you to put a magpul stock on it and make it a folder. A sweet piece to the puzzle is you don’t have to cut off your tang to go with this folder.
What is brutal for me, is I had a magpul milspec CTR stock sitting around without a home that I wouldn’t be able to use, but the folder looked interesting. As all things OST there were no specs or weight (drives me nuts with that site). Anyways I pre-ordered as it looked to be an OST exclusive. OST was saying at least a month before they would ship.
A couple weeks ago CNC Warrior and Bonesteel Arms looked to be putting out the same knuckle and they also had an option for one with an integrated milspec buffer tube attached. Price was a little more but was worth it for the milspec tube. Another nice addition was Bonesteel was including a ship date. So I canceled my order at OST and placed a new one with Bonesteel Arms for the knuckle with the milspec tube. Nothing against OST they just didn’t have the integrated tube and I didn’t feel like adding a tube and castle nut.
Anyways, long story on trying to get the part shipped out but I finally got it last Friday.
Not really about survival but an awesome video none the less:
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I was thinking about writing up a long post for you on the topic of making char cloth & a proper birds nest to start a fire for survival purposes or for camping but I think its better as a visual medium. Dave Canterbury who is an excellent resource for bushcraft and wilderness survival (Bio Here) has put out two YouTube vids that I thought I would post showing how to make the all important char cloth, birds nest, and igniting a fire.
If you are unfamiliar with Char cloth here is the definition strait from Wikipedia – “Char cloth is a swatch of fabric made from vegetable fiber (such as linen, cotton or jute) that has been converted via pyrolysis into a slow-burning fuel of very low ignition temperature. It is capable of being ignited by a single spark that can in turn be used to ignite a tinder bundle to start a fire. It is sometimes manufactured at home for use as the initial tinder when cooking or camping and historically usually provided the “tinder” component of a tinderbox.”
If you don’t already subscribe to Dave’s YouTube channel I highly recommend it as he posts a lot of information that he teaches to his students at the Pathfinder School. Anyways on with the show:
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I had a chance to shoot about 200 rounds this weekend through the Arsenal. For sure the trigger needed to go. If you have a background in rifles you will want to do a trigger replacement ASAP. The arsenal has a good, safe, trigger with 8-12 pounds of pull but that’s just too much for my tastes. In my opinion the trigger on the SGL31 is garbage for target shooting and for quick semiautomatic bursts. I knew this after the first time I took it to the range so I immediately ordered a G2. While I was in there I wanted to change out the shepherds hook. One nice thing about the M10 is it has all these parts already installed including a Tapco trigger pin retainer plate.
I’m thrilled with the Arsenal but these little things will start to add up. The G2 + the Krebs trigger pin retainer plate will run you with shipping around $40-$50. If you can get an M10 that works and you don’t mind the finish, love it and leave it!
The Tapco G2 came in this weekend along with a Krebs enhanced safety and trigger pin retainer plate to replace the shepherds hook. It was nice that they all came in the mail on the same day as it was a split order from Primary Arms which got me the G2 in 2 days from TX and Krebs customs.
Swap out of all the parts is simple. Biggest issues is getting out the shepherds hook which I think has more to do with having the right pliers that can get into small spaces than anything else. There is a good write up over at ar15.com – AK Semi-auto Fire Control Group Disassembly and Assembly. Once that’s done everything else is just drop in.
Installation of the G2 Trigger group
Addition of the trigger pin retainer plate
The BBQ paint that Arsenal uses is not the best, you can see how quickly the internal are getting scratched up. The outside of the SGL is also getting some dings, nothing major but the finish is no where near as strong as say an AR15 or Remington 870. Its more like the new 10/22 finishes, just strong black paint. Its definitely in the plans to get it re-coated at some point with an enamel or Guncoat so I’m not too worried about it. If your in the market and this was not on your list to re-do, take note. Continue reading
In exchange for the M10 debacle Atlantic Firearms was cool enough to let me upgrade to an Arsenal SGL31. Like last time the order handling and shipping from Atlantic was ridiculously fast. I ordered the Arsenal Friday late afternoon, shipped Monday morning and was at my FFL Tuesday at 11am. Atlantic’s system is awesome, It sends you an email after every step, even upon delivery to your FFL.
I was unable to swing by to pick it up until later that night. The Arsenal SGL-31 comes in a plain white box with only a plastic bag and an instruction manual. For $200 more than the M10 I think its a no-brainier. This looks like an actual new gun. There are no milling marks, the finish is smooth, and all the parts a brand new. The fit and finish is excellent. I know Arsenal gets a bad rap for the simple painted finish but it looks far better than the M10’s parkerized version.
Sorry for not showing the original grip that came with the SGL, my mitts are just too big and it needed to be swapped immediately. I decided to go with the US Palm AK Battle Grip and it makes a huge difference. I think I may like it more than the Hogue grip that came with the M10. It certainly looks more traditional in my opinion.
The front sight block is strait and looking good. The safety was not brutal to move and fit nice under the cover. The standard SGL stock is far too short for my 6’1″ frame. Buts it’s replacement will happen soon enough. I have decide to go with the Bonesteel Ak/Saiga Folding stock with integral AR15 extension tube along with a Magpul CTR stock. They are not shipping yet but should be by the end of March. It looks to be one of the best folders on the market and there is no need to cut off your rear tang like the ACE folder. Continue reading