by John Markwell
Contributing Editor
Somehow, over time, we seem to end up with a lot of small but pretty useful outdoor related items. These are often little things (like lights or tape) which when needed, turn out to be pretty important additions to our kit. We thought the Grads and Dads edition of TGM would be a good place to showcase some of the new items we’ve found useful during our outdoor and shooting endeavors over the past year or so.
Everyone who carries a concealed weapon should carry a light of some sort as part of their daily routine. Many armed encounters occur in the dark and being able to identify a threat (or non-threat) is key to avoiding a tragic case of mistaken identity. The problem with many personal lights is that they are just too big to be conveniently carried.
We have been using the ProTac-1L from Streamlight Inc., (30 Eagleville Rd., Dept. TGM, Eagleville, PA, 19403; phone: 800-523-7488; online: streamlight.com) for about a year now and have found it to be about the perfect size for daily carry and pretty convenient for other uses as well. At full power the 1L puts out 180 lumens of white light from its LED bulb. The 1L is programmable (which we find utterly amazing) and has three modes: high, low and strobe. Run time on the single CR-123A battery is 2 hours on high and 24 hours on low (12 lumens). The 1L has an aluminum body and a glass lens. The pocket clip is removable and, if reversed, can be used to clip the light to a hat bill.
We have found the Streamlight ProTac-1L to be so handy that we have purchased more than a couple of them. Stashed here and there, the ProTac-1Ls have become one of those items that we seem to be always reaching for. Recently one evening we snatched up one of our 1Ls along with an S&W 22Magnum Kit Gun and followed the wife out to the barn to dispatch the ‘possum that had been raiding the barn cat’s food bowl. That particular Streamlight 1L permanently resides on a shelf to the right of my desk in the gun room and sees plenty of use. Available at many outdoor stores and from a bunch of online vendors, the ProTac-1L runs anywhere from $35-$44 and includes a black nylon belt sheath.
We have a tendency to abuse optics. Really we just use our optics and thus their lenses tend to get pretty grungy and often get the dreaded “t-shirt wipe” after riding in the pick-up for a week or two. At the 2013 SHOT Show we picked up the Pocket Optics Cleaning Kit from Field Optics (fieldopticsresearch.com). Tucked into a stretch nylon pouch with a handy clip is all the stuff needed to clean one’s optics in the field. There is a 100% goat hair lens brush, a cotton swab, a small, microfiber cloth and a professional grade optics cleaning solution. There is enough cleaning solution for several applications.
We keep the Field Optics cleaning kit in our pack for those times when lenses get really dirty. When the dog has given one of the objectives of our truck binocular a big slurp, the Pocket Optics Cleaning Kit has proven to be just the ticket for removing the driedon goo. Every outdoor person uses optics of some sort and should find this $9.99 cleaning set up a useful addition to their kit.
A couple of years back, the wife and I ended up camping in an area that was truly “buggy.” Now we don’t mind a few insects, but there were enough of the little buggers around one particular campsite in the mountains of Idaho that we decided to try a high tech solution that had been suggested by Bill Wilson a few years prior on a hog hunt in Texas. We picked up ThermaCELL (26 Crosby Dr., Dept.
TGM, Bedford, MA 01730; phone: 866-753-3837; online: ThermaCELL.com) at the next sports shop we found.
The ThermaCELL Mosquito Repellent unit provides insect protection for a 225-square-foot area and is ideal for decks, patios and campsites. Using the ThermaCELL is easy. Insert the Mosquito Repellent mat under the appliance’s grill, insert a butane cartridge, and slide the start button three to five times. When the light at the end of the ThermaCELL appliance is glowing you are good to go. We were, quite frankly, pretty surprised at the effectiveness of the ThermaCELL. For keeping the insects at bay in an area measuring about 15 feet square, this high tech gizmo was a welcome addition to our camper’s load. In fact, it was so effective that we acquired another (the Compact model) to increase the bug free zone around our campfires. While it doesn’t work in any real wind, we found the ThermaCELL performed well in a slight breeze if placed upwind or under our pick-up camper’s awning. The unit is, however, difficult to start and run above 4,500 feet in elevation.
Available at most outdoors stores nationwide, the ThermaCELL appliances come in several configurations and Repellent Mats and butane cartridge refill packs seem to be readily available. Priced from the mid $30 up, the ThermaCELL Mosquito Repellent has secured a place in our camping gear. We don’t use the ThermaCELL all that often, but when we need it the unit makes outdoor living in bug country much more bearable and we highly recommend it.
With the incredible increase in the popularity of AR platform rifles one would think the manufacturers would put decent triggers in their guns. This is, however, not the case with most guns on the market. The accuracy and reliability of AR rifles, regardless of who makes them, is generally better than at any time in history. But despite the manufacturers increasing the overall performance of their rifles and carbines, most ARs seem to come with triggers that feel like they are filled with sand, have 10 pound springs in them, or both.
We long ago tired of dealing with crappy AR triggers and have tried a “few” aftermarket triggers in assorted sport utility rifles over the years. Some were great and some (like the really light one that “doubled” on occasion) were not much better than what the factories put in the guns. Two aftermarket triggers that we have been extremely pleased with are from Geissele Automatics (1920 W. Marshall St., Dept. TGM, Norristown, PA, 19403; phone: 610-272-2060: online: geissele.com), and Wilson Combat (2234 CR 719, Dept. TGM, Berryville, AR, 72616; phone: 870-545-3618; online: wilsoncombat.com).
Bill Geissele manufactures quite a line of triggers and we have had the opportunity to use two of them. The factory trigger in our FN SCAR 16 had a pull weight in excess of six pounds and was not very conducive to good shooting. One of the FN shooters attending ASC a couple of years ago generously gave me the Geissele Super SCAR Trigger out of his SCAR 17 after the match, as I was having trouble obtaining one at the time. The Super SCAR Trigger is a two stage combat trigger that is non-adjustable. Total pull weight of the Super SCAR Trigger is 4.5 lbs. — 2.5 lbs. on the first stage and 2 lbs. on the second. Easily installed in the SCAR rifle, there are no adjustment screws to come loose and all springs are captive to avoid loss during disassembly in the field. The Geissele Super SCAR Trigger is robust and is as safe a trigger as can be had for the SCAR platform due to the patented pseudo-sear which prevents hammer fall unless the trigger is actually pulled. We have found that the Geissele SCAR trigger has improved our shooting with the SCAR 16 to the point that we have relegated the SCAR to a DMR role in our battery (shooting MK262 ammo). If we could just finalize on an optic for the SCAR, that project would be finalized. With a retail price of $325 Geissele’s Super SCAR Trigger is, in our opinion, a good investment for those wanting to capitalize on the SCAR’s inherent accuracy.
The other Geissele trigger we’ve been using is the Super Semi-Automatic (SSA) for AR rifles. We installed a SSA trigger in our newly completed lightweight AR (see TGM Vol.3, #28 April 2014). The SSA is a two stage unit that installs just like a factory AR trigger. The SSA trigger has greatly enhanced the shootability of our new lightweight AR project and has allowed us to take full advantage of the accuracy of the little rifle’s Daniel Defense barrel. The SSA is available for both large and small pin ARs at a retail price of a bit over $210. The SSA trigger will not fit HK 416 firearms with the firing pin safety.
Bill Wilson and his son Ryan are at the forefront of producing not only 1911 pistols but accurate AR rifles as well. Key components of Wilson Combat AR rifles are the Tactical Trigger Units (TTUs) used in Wilson Combat’s rifles. These triggers are also available as aftermarket parts. The TTU is a totally self-contained trigger module that is a true “drop in design.” Installation takes about a minute and normally requires no alteration to the host weapon. Available in both single and two-stage models, the TTUs we’ve had the opportunity to use provide crisp trigger pulls of around 4 pounds plus or minus a few ounces. We have installed TTUs in both my son’s and son-in-law’s Colt 6721 LE carbines as well as in one of my ARs. The only problem encountered involved a minor deepening of the notch in the safety/selector on my son’s rifle. All three of these triggers have held up well and continue to perform despite a distinct lack of maintenance on my part, in particular. Wilson has designed the TTU with a 1911 style Half-Cock notch, making it one of the safest AR triggers on the market that exceeds the military specs for drop safety. These are good triggers that will make any AR owner happy. Designed for hard use, the retail price of the Wilson Combat Tactical Trigger Units is $269.99 and they are worth every penny.
Almost every outdoorsman uses a watch. We don’t know about most folks, but we wear a watch almost 24 hours a day, and brightly luminescent hands and a dial readable in the dark are prime attributes of any timepiece we would consider owning.
It was timely (no pun intended) that we received an Email announcing the availability of test samples of the Isobrite T100 series Chronograph. I needed to send my 40-year-old selfwinding chronograph in for service and the Isobrite Chronagraph would be its temporary replacement for a couple of months.
The T100 chronograph is the first T100 tritium-illuminated lightweight polycarbonate watch. T100 has up to four times the brightness of the T25 tritium commonly used in watches. This is a watch you can really see in the dark. The T100 has a Swiss Ronda 715Li Quartz movement and utilizes a lithium battery with a life span of ten years. This lightweight timepiece is designed for extreme use. The T100 has a polycarbonate case, a nonreflective sapphire glass crystal, two illuminated markers on the rotating bezel and is water resistant to 200 meters. There is a date function as well as timing features for minutes, seconds and tenths of seconds. The only thing about the T100 we found annoying was the location and readability of the date. Located at the four o’clock position next to a big #4, it was just plain hard to see.
The T100 is a large watch (47mm diameter) but it is extremely light weight and seems to be pretty rugged. We used the timing feature for establishing par-times for some of our Spring 2014’s ASC stages and found the timing dials easy to read in the field and the re-set was accurate and positive. To see the complete line of Isobrite chronographs visit them online at: isobrite.com, or phone them at: 888-355-4366. Retail on the T100 is $500 but the street price may vary.
Brownells Tactical Tape is 100MPH tape at its best! One inch in width and really sticky and strong, this may be the best tape for outdoor use we’ve ever had. We originally bought this tape because of its one-inch width having long ago tired of tearing duct tape lengthwise to get narrow strips for some uses. This is a vinyl-coated high thread count cloth tape with a synthetic rubber adhesive with a 42 lb. per-inch tensile strength. We keep several rolls around the homestead and one in the camper. Available from Brownells (online: brownells.com, phone: 800-741-0015) in 180-foot rolls, the Tactical tape comes in Coyote or Black and retails for $18.99 and $15.99 respectively.
We have always had trouble keeping our hands warm. When we saw the bison-fiber gloves offered by the Buffalo Wool Co. at the Harrisburg Outdoors Show in February we knew we had to try a pair. The company’s claim is that bison fiber is warmer, more durable, and wicks moisture better than any natural fiber. They also say the fiber’s warmth helps arthritis. We used our bison wool gloves inside a pair of deerskin “chopper” mittens during the end of the 2014 winter and have to admit that they are indeed warm. Machine washable and made in the USA, our bison wool gloves retail for $70 and are 100% unconditionally guaranteed. We like these gloves well enough that a pair of the fingerless gloves is now on our want list. For a complete look at the Herdware line of clothing and accessories visit online at: thebuffalowoolco.com or phone: 802-379-WOOL for a brochure.
If you leave this article in some conspicuous place, you may find that one or more of these handy items will appear as a graduation or Father’s Day gift. Any of them will contribute to safe and pleasant outings. Good shooting.
