I’ve always been a ball cap sort of guy. For a short time, I had one of those Aussie leather outback hats, but it didn’t fit as well as I’d have liked. The boonie hat has interested me for a while, but I never got around to pulling the trigger on one. Recently, Kings Camo sent me an XKG Sonora Air Sun Hat to check out.
The boonie hat has a fairly distinct design. It has a wide brim that circles the entire hat. This serves to keep the sun off your face, ears, and neck, much more so than a regular ball cap. The brim is somewhat stiff, so it will hold its shape after you’ve molded it where you want it.
Some models are adjustable in size, and most include a chin strap to keep the hat in place during windy conditions.
Sun Hat Features
Whether we’re talking about humid tropics or dry desert, this boonie-style hat is well-suited for heat. The Sonara Air Fabric is lightweight and very breathable. The fabric also dries pretty quickly. This is great if you sweat a lot or you get caught in a downpour.
The XKG Sonora Air Sun Hat is comfortable and lightweight.
The brim is structured foam. It’s easy to maneuver and stays in position fairly well. The chin strap is adjustable. It’s also removable. It was tempting to remove the chin strap entirely. But for now it stays, as I’d hate to lose the hat if the wind picks up.
XKG Sonora Air Sun Hat Performance
My wife and I go hiking every single weekend. We’ve done this since late 2016. It’s a great way to get some fresh air and sunshine, as well as test drive new gear from time to time.
I’ll admit that I was hesitant about the XKG Sonora Air Sun Hat, primarily because I have an abnormally large melon. There have been a couple of instances in the past where companies have sent me hats to try, and they simply didn’t fit. The XKG Sonora Air Sun Hat has an elastic headband that not only fits my head, but also does so comfortably.
The elastic band works great at keeping the hat in place.
It took me a few tries to figure out what I wanted to do with the chin strap. The weather for our hike was around 82°F, sunny, and with very little breeze. I tucked the chin strap up into the hat as it was a very calm day.
The hat stayed in place without any trouble as we went up and down hills. I was sweating buckets after a bit, but the hat didn’t seem overly warm. Several portions of the trail were in full sun, and I appreciated having the hat shading my neck and ears.
An interesting aspect of wearing a boonie hat that I hadn’t predicted was how it impacts your hearing. With the brim going around the head, sound waves that otherwise pass by are bounced back toward your ears. As I brushed by branches, for example, the sound seemed incredibly loud and very noticeable. Same with my keys jangling in my pocket.
When we got back to our vehicle and headed for home, I left the hat on the dash to dry out. A bonus feature of the XKG Sonora Air Sun Hat that my wife discovered is that it folds up pretty small. That’s great for packability.
A rubber band works well at keeping the folded hat secured while it’s in a backpack or bag.
My only gripe about the hat is that I wish it came in other prints, including a solid color or two. But that’s definitely not a deal-breaker for me.
The XKG Sonora Air Sun Hat is available at the King’s Camo website for around $35.
Springfield Armory closed its doors in 1968. The Armory had served the United States since 1794, and its closing was immensely controversial. Robert McNamara did it as a method to save money and improve efficiency. As the U.S. Military adopted the M16, a weapon designed by Armalite and produced by Colt, the Armory received its final nail in the coffin.
I acknowledge that a private company called Springfield Armory exists, but for this article, when I say Springfield Armory, I mean the traditional government armory. Springfield Armory produced everything from muskets to machine guns and provided weapons to George Washington, George Patton, and Carlos Hathcock.
McNamara closed the legendary Armory in favor of teaming up with private industry to produce firearms for the American military. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool private company man myself. The government can be slow, painfully so, and painfully inefficient. It’s quite common to see red tape and bureaucracy, as well as incompetence, fester and grow in government service.
However, we can’t ignore the fact that Springfield Armory produced some fantastic firearms. The M1 Garand was a game-changing infantry rifle, and it came from the Armory. They often worked best when working hand-in-hand with private industry.
With that in mind, would the United States military benefit from a modern Springfield Armory? A government armory staffed with experts looking to produce and design the best weapons possible for our forces?
A Modern Springfield Armory
A modern Springfield Armory should be a joint effort from all branches, a bit like the Joint Service Small Arms Program. This way, each branch could explain its needs and wants and help develop and approve potential new firearms for its forces. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to military armaments.
A modern Springfield Armory could also coordinate programs already in use by individual branches, like NSWC-Crane and the Marine Corps Precision Weapons Section. These programs wouldn’t need to be housed under the same building in a modern era, but if they fell under a weapons-centric agency, data and experience could more easily be shared.
A big part of the modern government armory would be working with private industry to help ensure efficiency. The Armory could be the brick wall between the military and substandard products getting into soldiers’ hands. However, they should be willing and encouraged to work with private industry in the development and production of firearms, preferably to help guide programs.
The U.S. Army released very specific requirements for the NGSW, but were those requirements realistic long-term? The modern Springfield Armory could also be an unbiased source that doesn’t have a profit motive, that could shine a light on the Army’s needs and rein them in. Speaking of reigning in, it took the Army two years and $17 million to pick a new handgun. That’s ridiculous.
Optimistically, the Armory could employ designers and engineers to take the needs of a particular branch or unit and work to design a weapon, which can later be produced by private industry. A new Springfield Armory staffed by experts and even military armorers could work to produce new concepts or to examine the concepts of other countries.
The Challenges
The first challenge is to avoid the problems the original Springfield Armory had, which is getting absorbed by tradition. The insistence on a wood-stocked steel battle rifle that fired a .30-cal round helped end the Armory. The disastrous M14 was the last rifle they produced and was steeped in ridiculous tradition that showed the government was useless.
Additionally, focus on efficiency. Too often, government agencies get bogged down in red tape and paperwork that serves low-IQ government workers and helps them keep a useless job. Avoid that. Be thorough, but create reasonable expectations and timelines. Hold leaders accountable.
Also, be willing to work with the private firearms industry, including foreign companies. FN produced the M240, which is a fantastic machine gun. If we want to provide the best weapons possible for our warfighters, we have to break away from the idea that foreign designs won’t work.
Armory Dreaming
My idea of an Armory would be part armory, designing and producing prototypes, and part communication hub. A place where the wisdom and experience from the different branches and their various custom shops can be collected, disseminated, and shared. The Armory wouldn’t need to be much, but could be massively beneficial in collecting, sharing, developing, and streamlining programs.
Make no mistake, end-of-life planning is absolutely part of a comprehensive preparedness plan. Or at least it should be. The Nokbox is a tool we’ve discussed before in that regard.
We often talk about wills, trusts, and such. Those are definitely important, but there are other steps to pursue as well. These are things that your attorney may not think to tell you, but that can be incredibly important to your family.
Inventory the Good Stuff
Many of us have collections like knives or firearms. We’ve carefully curated these bits and baubles for years. But do you have a solid grasp on what all you actually own? Will your family know how to value it? A common joke is the guy who fears that upon his passing, his wife will sell his guns for what he told her he paid for them.
If no one else in your family shares your hobbies, they may not know how valuable your collection truly is.
As part of your end-of-life planning, take time to do some sort of inventory. The more information you can jot down for each item, the better, such as where you bought it and when, what you paid, and its estimated worth now.
I knew one knife collector who put a small slip of paper in each knife box with that information, as well as a note about the knife’s significance, if any. When he passed, this information made it easier for his family to organize the collection and decide what to keep, what to sell, and what to gift to others.
I’ve made arrangements with a few of my fellow knife nuts that if I pass before them, my family is welcome to call upon them for advice on knife values and related issues. I’ll do the same for them.
By the way, this sort of inventory would also prove useful in the event of a house fire, theft, or other similar situation that might deprive you of some or all of your collection.
Get Rid of the Junk
This can be one of the most difficult parts of end-of-life planning. Most of us have a metric ton of crap we don’t use, we don’t need, and that serves zero practical purpose. I don’t mean the neat stuff you might collect as a hobby. I’m talking about the numerous shelves of coffee mugs my dad had sitting in the basement, collecting dust. Lids to plastic totes that have long since disappeared. Clothes that don’t fit and aren’t likely to ever come back into style.
Have a rummage sale to sell what you can, then donate the leftovers to the charity shop of your choice. Whatever’s left after that goes in a dumpster. That’s where it’ll be headed later anyway, but at least your loved ones won’t be doing it while also trying to grieve after losing you.
Sell off the junk you no longer need at a rummage sale or donate it to a thrift store.
When my dad died, I had a 25-foot dumpster delivered the day after his funeral. It was full by the end of the second day of cleaning out his house, and we still had a long way to go. Junk filled two large storage rooms in the basement.
But the thing was, it wasn’t all junk. There were pearls here and there, like the trunks filled with 100+ year old sheet music. Old stock certificates (worthless, but very old and cool). Buick memorabilia (he’d been a salesman for them for decades). Most of it was just garbage that had to be hauled up and out. But all of it needed to be examined, just in case.
Given that his house still had a mortgage, and he had no life insurance policies, the clock was ticking to get the house cleaned, polished, and sold.
I have a tendency to appreciate Spanish pistols. The Spanish pistol market is essentially a clone factory. Take a successful design and then recreate it, but also change things. The Astra Police takes some clear cues from S&W revolvers, particularly the Model 19, but isn’t a direct clone. Instead, it’s a very beefy, overengineered .38 Special that comes in at an excellent price point.
The Astra Police did come in .357 Magnum, but this specific model is .38 Special only. Why? I have no idea. It is the same frame as the .357 Magnum, although it utilizes a .38 Special cylinder. Perhaps Astra sought to market the revolver internationally to police or security forces that primarily used the .38 Special.
Astra designed these guns with cylinders that could be quickly removed. The big screw just ahead of the trigger guard acts as a button to remove the cylinder. If I could find a .357 Magnum cylinder, I could swap it out fairly easily.
The other feature that sets the Astra apart from S&W revolvers hides under the grips. Under the grips, we have a mainspring and a circular device that plugs into it. If you pull it upward and rotate the circle a quarter turn, you see the mainspring pop back in. You have four positions total, and each position is a trigger adjustment. You can lighten or make your trigger heavier very easily.
Those are the weird little features, but there are a few other quality-of-life features. The front sight is pinned, which is a nice touch. There is a transfer bar rather than a direct firing pin on the hammer, which is always nice on cheap old revolvers. The gun’s quite hefty, but weight is good for recoil, as we’ll find out later.
The Astra Police and I
I got this revolver for a couple of hundred dollars. Not bad, and I’d wanted one ever since I saw an FN Barracuda. Astra built the Barracudas for FN. The Barracudas famously had .357 Magnum and 9mm cylinders and took advantage of the quick-cylinder-detachment device. The Barracuda and Astra Police are essentially identical.
They have this hefty look, with a larger frame, but a fairly short three-inch barrel. Three-inch barrels are becoming my favorite on revolvers, especially .38 Special revolvers. Mine features the initials P.M.V., which stands for Policia Municipal Vitoria. The municipal police of Vitoria-Gasteiz, which looks beautiful on Google Images.
It’s a fairly plain revolver with wood grips. There does seem to be some compatibility with S&W grips, but they don’t quite fit correctly. We might need a little fitting to get it to work. I’ll stick to the standard grips because that old-school wood looks beautiful with the beautiful blued finish.
The whole revolver is an aesthetic vibe. The big, heavy design, the chunky, almost L-frame-like design. The frame is huge, but somehow the short, beefy barrel makes it look good. It has that fighting revolver look and feel, which is what attracted me to the Barracuda, which is what attracted me to this gun in the first place.
To The Range With the Astra Police
The Astra Police is a blast to shoot. It’s hefty for a .38 Special, so it shoots extremely smoothly. There is hardly any recoil, and it barely moves when shot. Even with some hot 125-grain loads, the duty-grade Police revolver handles like a kitten. Heavy is good, heavy is reliable, and heavy reduces recoil. When you run dry, you can beat a man to death with this thing.
This is built to be a .357 Magnum, so it eats .38 Special like it’s the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza. I’m not a very good revolver shooter, but I can shoot all six rounds in less than two seconds into a B-8 target at ten yards from the low ready. The gun isn’t moving much between shots, so keeping it drilling one target isn’t difficult.
The trigger is smooth and light, especially since itis on the lightest setting. It still runs reliably with the lightest trigger pull, so why not rock and roll with it? The double-action pull is surprisingly smooth, but as you’d expect, it’s long and heavy, weighing over 10 pounds. The single action is very short and crisp, making it easy to hit targets at 25 yards.
The sights are basic revolver sights, which I still don’t quite know how to use well, but I’m figuring it out. If I take my time, I can nail an IPSC-sized steel target at 50 yards…most of the time.
Worth a Pinch
The Astra Police is an affordable, heavy-duty, easy-shooting revolver that’s just all kinds of cool. It’s a big gun, a little hefty for concealed carry, and it seems to be a toss-up which holsters it fits. Some K-Frame holsters reportedly fit, as do some L-Frames. I think it’s a bit better as a fun gun, but would still be a capable defensive option. If you only had 200 dollars and needed a gun, you could do a lot worse than this thing.
When you’re in the wild, water purification is crucial for your health. Access to clean drinking water prevents exposure to harmful pathogens that can cause serious illnesses.
Understanding purification methods, such as filters and tablets, helps in making informed choices. Water filters easily remove impurities and provide immediate access to safe drinking water, making them ideal for hiking and camping.
Purification tablets are lightweight and efficient for treating larger quantities of water, effectively killing viruses and bacteria when bulky equipment isn’t practical.
Importance of Water Purification
Drinking untreated water outdoors poses serious risks, even from seemingly pristine sources. Clear mountain streams and tranquil lakes can harbor harmful microorganisms like bacteria, protozoa, and viruses. Bacteria such as E. coli and Campylobacter cause severe diarrhea and dehydration, while protozoa like Giardia and Cryptosporidium lead to stomach cramps and prolonged gastrointestinal issues. Viruses, including Norovirus and Hepatitis A, can contaminate water through human or animal waste, especially in areas with poor sanitation.
Chemical contaminants, particularly near agricultural or mining sites, also pose dangers. Pesticides, heavy metals, and industrial runoff can enter water sources, and standard filters or boiling won’t remove them. Only specialized purifiers with activated carbon effectively reduce these risks. Moreover, blue-green algae blooms in warm, stagnant water release toxins that resist treatment methods, making water unsafe even after boiling or filtering.
This was the author’s water in a nasty pond in the northeast. He used a bandana and iodine to purify the water and was fine.
Symptoms from waterborne illnesses vary by pathogen. Bacterial infections cause diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps, while protozoan infections lead to gas, bloating, and fatigue. Viral infections can trigger nausea and even liver damage. These symptoms can escalate quickly, especially far from medical help.
To stay safe, always treat water before drinking. Use a reliable filter and chemical purification for maximum protection. Boil water for at least one minute—or three minutes at elevations above 6,500 feet—to kill most pathogens. Avoid stagnant or murky water, especially near campsites or trails. Even a single sip of untreated water can cause illness, so take the extra time to purify every drop.
Water Filters
Water filters deliver precision filtration that stands out for frequent use, fast flow, and their ability to remove sediment and pathogens effectively. These systems, utilizing ceramic, hollow fiber, or activated carbon technologies, trap harmful bacteria, protozoa, and microplastics with impressive efficiency. For those seeking even more advanced protection, models like the Sawyer or MSR Guardian take it a step further by eliminating viruses as well, ensuring that every drop you drink is safe and clean.
The never-used MSR Hyperflow Water Filter lasted four uses in the Amazon Jungle by the author.
Pros:
Fast and reusable (some models treat thousands of liters).
Improves taste and removes sediment.
Ideal for clear water sources like streams and lakes.
Cons:
Doesn’t always remove viruses unless specified.
Can clog over time and require cleaning.
Bulkier than tablets for ultralight travel.
In the Field: Water Filters
I started my backpacking days with a 1-pound Katadyn Hiker filter. It was bulky and required frequent filter replacements. Eventually, I started using a Press to Pure canteen-style bottle/filter that I needed to squeeze. After that, I used the MSR Hyperflow filter. It was a standout for its speed and weight, delivering up to 3 liters per minute thanks to its hollow fiber technology. If you’re comparing legacy gear or building a weight-conscious kit, this one was a favorite among fastpackers and minimalist hikers.
These filters always turn into a strength workout. On a recent trip to the Adirondacks, three of the four campers were struggling to press the water filter top down by day three. They used the popular GRAYL Filters. Keep in mind, they were strong guys. What if it were a smaller person or a frail hiker?
These two filters were used in the Amazon Rainforest by an instructor during a jungle survival class.
The last time I used a water filter was in 2011 in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. I used the MSR Hyperflow four times, and then it was done. I used my backup iodine tablets for the remainder of the trip and never looked back! This event raised a thought-provoking question: Water Filters or Tablets?
Tablets over Filtration
Purification tablets offer a simple yet effective solution for ensuring safe drinking water, making them perfect for ultralight packing, emergency kits, or when you encounter questionable water sources. These tablets, powered by iodine or chlorine dioxide, work by swiftly eliminating bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. Simply drop a tablet into your water and let it do its magic—wait anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on the type of tablet, and you’ll have clean, drinkable water ready to go.
Pros:
Lightweight and compact.
Kills viruses—something most filters miss.
Great backup option.
Cons:
Doesn’t remove sediment or improve taste.
Chemical flavor can be off-putting.
Slower treatment time.
In the Field: Tablets
Carrying an ounce of treatment for several gallons of water makes more sense to me. It’s easier than carrying a clunky water filter that may or may not be functional. Since 2011, I’ve used Potable Aqua-type iodine tablets. Where and what type of water? Clear water in Alaska, to dark, murky, nasty water in the Filipino jungles, with water buffalo bathing in the water. In the Amazon River and its numerous tributaries, I have used iodine with minimal filtering. In the lakes of the Adirondacks, to my local area in the Northeast—iodine only!
Iodine and a bandana saved the author’s only drinking water source on a dayhike in the summer.
The question of whether to use water filters or tablets is an easy one for me to answer—tablets are my choice every time!
Water Filters or Tablets Wrap Up
Prioritizing water purification in nature is essential for hydration and protection from waterborne diseases. Safe drinking water is a necessity for a healthier and more enjoyable outdoor experience, so make it a priority in your preparations.
The S&W 3rd Generation has entered this sort of legendary, cult favorite status. S&W discontinued these guns and stopped supporting them almost 20 years ago. At one point, they were cheap trade-ins, but they’ve grown substantially in price. I’m an unashamed fan of all-metal, double-stack, hammer-fired, DA/SA, 9mm pistols. So, 3rd Gen guns like the 5906 hold a special place in my heart.
After finding one for a fair price, I grabbed it. I don’t have much experience with the 3rd Gen series, and the experience I have comes from the .45 ACP series, and it comes from a time when I didn’t have a ton of shooting experience. After buying and shooting the 5906, I came to an important realization.
The Beretta 92FS came out in 1975 and is still in production and still coming out with new generations. The CZ-75 came out in 1975 and is still in production. The 5906 came out in 1989 and ended production in 1999. It hasn’t come back. There is a reason for that. The 3rd Gen S&Ws are a bit overrated.
The S&W 5906 – A Wonder Nine’s Last Years
The 5906 is a 3rd Generation S&W semi-auto handgun. It’s descended from the Model 59, which was a double-stack version of the Model 39. The guns have the same core mechanics. They are all-metal, hammer-fired, DA/SA semi-auto pistols. The 59 was the original double-stack variant, which came from the Navy’s adaptations of the Model 39 for SEAL Teams.
The 56 became the 459, which is the second-generation model. Finally, S&W produced the final generation of these automatic pistols, the Model 5906. The S&W 5906 is the all-stainless steel model of the third-gen 59 series. There is also a 5903, a 5904, a 5905, a 5946, and a 5967. The 5906 featured a four-inch barrel and utilizes a 15-round magazine.
The gun has a slide-mounted ambidextrous safety that doubles as a decocker. There is a magazine safety, which is annoying. The sights are adjustable and protected by a large set of wings that protect the sight. The all-stainless-steel nature of the gun makes it extremely heavy. It weighs 38.3 ounces.
This makes it four ounces heavier than the Beretta 92FS, three-ish ounces heavier than my CZ 75, and only an ounce lighter than the M1911. It’s a hefty gun, and it’s clearly made for police or military use rather than concealed carry. No effort was made to reduce the gun’s bulk or width to make it more concealable.
That’s not a huge problem, and it’s not why I think these guns are overrated.
Handling the 5906
Weight doesn’t bother me. Weird design does. The gun’s grip is an odd shape that reminds me a bit of a wedge. When I apply a tight grip, it feels like it wants to drift upwards. The crappy plastic grips don’t help. This is most noticeable when shooting the gun quickly. It doesn’t want to stay locked in my hands. The grip texture could be more aggressive, which would likely help.
To be clear, the gun isn’t escaping my hands, but it feels like it wants to. The small movements in my hand make it tough to rapidly shoot tight groups and to control the gun as well as I can control something like a Glock, or even a Beretta 92. A slide-mounted safety and decocker on a DA/SA gun has always been less than optimal.
A decocker-only version would be fantastic, but that’s not the case. Additionally, the magazine safety is a silly feature that I can’t get behind. I’ve always thought those were dumb additions to a modern handgun.
These guns also seem to have snappier recoil than competing 9mm handguns. Why does this thing recoil so much more than a Glock, Beretta, or CZ? In terms of the CZ and Beretta, the S&W 5906 appears to have a bigger slide. A bigger slide is a heavier slide, which means more mass going rearward and creating more muzzle rise.
Compared to a Glock, there is no flex in the frame to absorb some of that recoil. It’s just stiff steel. I just can’t shoot these guns as well as other 9mm, full-sized guns. The 5906 doesn’t compete with modern handguns, and doesn’t compete well with older guns like the 92FS.
Is It Terrible?
It’s not a terrible gun. I’d carry a 5906 if necessary and not think much about it. The gun’s reliable, accurate, and ultimately, it’s not difficult to control. It just doesn’t handle as well as other high-quality pistols. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but there are plenty of brand new guns that I’d pass over for a 5906.
I think they were a firearm of their era, and escaping that era wasn’t in the cards for S&W. Following the 3rd Gen series, they threw their backs into polymer frame guns. Although, since everything is cyclical, they are making M&Ps with metal frames. If you can find a 5906 for a good price, it’s worth it, but if it’s hitting those 800-dollar price points, walk away.
I still like mine, and I’ll still probably buy the first 4506 I see, but I don’t think the 3rd Gen series gets a spot in the Handgun Hall Of Fame.
The knife is obviously modeled after the classic white plastic butter knife that you’ll find at picnics, parties, and similar events. This one is larger, though, and substantially stronger. It’s also razor sharp.
This is a fixed-blade knife. It runs 8.75 inches from end to end. The blade is 3.5 inches long. This is one solid piece of 0.125-inch AEB-L steel that’s been shaped and ground. There’s a lanyard hole at the base of the handle for those who like to adorn their knives.
From end to end, the knife has been powder-coated white. Each one is hand-ground, so there may be very slight deviations in measurements. Mine weighs 2.4 ounces.
The Panic at the Picnic comes with a white Kydex sheath. There’s a bit of a thumb break to make deployment easy. The sheath is equipped with a clip that can slip onto a belt or possibly serve as a pocket clip if you’re feeling particularly froggy.
The clip on the Kydex sheath can slip on a belt or potentially secure the knife in a pocket.
Panic at the Picnic Performance
I haven’t used this knife a ton, but it’s quite serviceable. There’s a lot of belly on the blade, which helps it perform as a great slicer. I mean, this is modeled after a knife designed for meal times, so it makes sense that it works well in that regard.
Given how slim it is in the handle, as there are no scales at all, this isn’t a knife I’d want to use for long periods of time or for any sort of heavy work. But that’s okay, that’s not what it’s intended for. I do like the jimping on the spine. Between that and the handle shape, you can really choke up on the knife for leverage as needed.
The Kydex sheath is great. It holds the knife securely and complements the overall aesthetic quite well. The clip can be removed or shifted around to any number of configurations.
Here’s the Panic at the Picnic compared to a Benchmade Bugout, just for a size reference.
Who Needs It?
Well, need is such a strong word. Few people truly need to buy anywhere near as many knives as we knife nuts do.
Is it cool? Absolutely, 100%, no question about it.
Is it more novelty than practical? If we’re being honest, yeah. But y’know what? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Some things are just fun, and that’s okay.
That said, here’s what I’ve done. I keep an MSR Titan Long Spoon in my EDC bag. It’s there for the times when I’m on the road and swing through a drive-thru, only to find that they forgot to give me utensils. The Panic at the Picnic lives in that same pocket in the bag. It’s perfect for slicing up fruit or other foods. Sort of like how you’d use one of those white plastic knives, but better. Whip this thing out in the employee lounge and people aren’t going to raise an eyebrow.
Blunt Force Blades produces the Panic at the Picnic knives in small batches. You can find it at their website for $125.
Gordon Ingram is often called the John Moses Browning of straight blowback submachine guns. That might be a slight exaggeration, but the man mastered the straight blowback, open-bolt, full-auto design at a very low price point with a simple design. Ingram did a little more than straight blowback SMGs, but those were his most successful designs.
Ingram was a California native who found a love of weapon design in the United States Army during World War II. After the war ended, Gordon Ingram jumped feet-first into the firearms development world. His name would become attached to the MAC series of submachine guns, but he designed quite a few guns. Let’s start with his most popular design and work our way through Mr. Ingram’s creations.
The MAC Daddy of Ingram Guns
Gordon Ingram’s most successful gun is the MAC series. He designed the original MAC-10 and followed it up with the MAC-11. The MAC-10 was a full-auto submachine gun that used a direct blowback system and an extremely simple operating system. The guns in the MAC series were cheap and easy to make, reliable, and portable for a submachine gun. The MAC-10 was the .45 ACP variant, and the MAC-11 was a micro .380 ACP variant.
Outside of caliber and size, these guns were identical. They fired from the open bolt, fed from magazines locked into the magwell, and had simple folding stocks. They walked the line between SMG and machine pistol. Their compact nature made them niche tools. These SMGs were used by special operations forces and were the most popular civilian machine gun on the market. The MAC design has been sold over and over and is still produced in modern variations.
The Ingram Model 6, 7, 8, and 9
Prior to the MAC, the Ingram Model 6 was Ingram’s most successful gun. This was a more traditional submachine gun that was typical of the era. It featured a wood stock, pistol grip, and handguard. The Model 6 fired from an open bolt and chambered either 9mm, .45 ACP, or .38 Super. The Ingram Models 7, 8, and 9 were all Model 6 derivatives.
The Model 7 used a closed bolt. An improved version of the Model 6 became the Model 8. The Model 9 was a Model 8 with a detachable stock. These were all straight blowback submachine guns with eight-inch barrels and an overall length of 28.5 inches.
The Model 6 was adopted by numerous American police forces, the Cuban Navy, and the Peruvian Army.
The Ingram Model 5
After returning from World War II, Ingram designed the Model 5. He chose Model 5 to differentiate it from the M1, M2, and M3 already in use and expected an M4 to join the ranks. He was right…but that would be decades later. The M5 was an incredibly simple gun.
It was an open-bolt, direct blowback .45 ACP SMG with three moving parts: the trigger, bolt, and sear. The Model 5 was never adopted, and Ingram abandoned the design. It does seem like he was trying to challenge the Grease Gun or the STEN gun from World War II.
Ingram FBM
The Ingram FBM was an assault rifle designed by Gordon Ingram for the Bolivian military in the 1990s. The FBM was a gas-operated, rotating-bolt assault rifle that fired either the 5.56 or 7.62x39mm round. The general idea behind the assault rifle was to produce an extremely affordable platform that was easy to manufacture.
The FBM draws inspiration from the Galil and Stoner 63. It doesn’t seem to have been adopted, and finding a single photo or much information about the gun is difficult. It existed, and Ingram designed it, but we don’t know much else.
Ingram SAM Series
Ingram didn’t just design cheap sheet metal SMGs and assault rifles. He did design some more traditional wood-stocked rifles that used the famed short-recoil operation of the M1 Carbine. The SAM series of rifles used the M1 Carbine design but upped it to 5.56, 7.62×39, and 7.62 NATO.
The gun used STANAG mags for 5.56, AK mags for 7.62×39, and M14 mags for 7.62 NATO options. These never made it far past prototypes, but they appear to be very handsome rifles. Ruger must have beaten him to the market with the Mini-14.
Ingram Durango Series
Another prototype series from Ingram is the Durango series of rifles. These were pistol-caliber carbines that varied wildly. There is a bullpup .44 Magnum model that used Desert Eagle magazines, then we had more traditional 9mm and .45 ACP rifles. The 9mm used Beretta mags, and the .45 ACP variant used 1911 magazines.
These were all basic straight blowback guns. That works fine with 9mm and .45 ACP, but how the heck would the .44 Magnum be practical as a blowback-operated gun? Maybe the .44 Magnum uses a different operating system? It’s unclear, but the only prototype was sold at an RIA auction a few years back. Maybe we can figure out exactly how these guns worked?
And More!
These aren’t the only gun designs of Mr. Ingram. He had the Model 20, which was reportedly a light machine gun. Why isn’t it featured here? I literally know nothing besides it was a light machine gun, and I can’t find anything else about this gun. I’m sure there are designs and prototypes lost to time. Mr. Ingram was a prolific firearms designer, and while he’s most known for the MAC series, he designed a pile of different guns.
Why didn’t anyone tell me that I.W.A. International Inc. had a mortar system? I had to find out about it on Instagram. It looks like it’s a pretty new release and more info is coming, but here’s what I know.
The IWA Mortar System consists of a mortar launcher, a heat shield, an ammo bandolier, and a variety of munitions. Before you get too excited, we aren’t talking High Explosive rounds. IWA is showing smoke, bang, and cluster bang loadings. Less Lethal or, considering its intended role, non-lethal stuff. Just lots of noise and smoke. Still, that has a lot of fun potential.
IWA’s Mortar itself is 48mm in diameter and 26 inches tall. The tube is made from 1026 DOM (Drawn Over Mandrel) steel. Its base is 8.5 inches wide and 4 inches deep, and it’s made from 1018 carbon steel. Range is listed at 150 to 300 meters. Don’t blame me for the mix of English and Metric measurements; that’s how IWA lists it.
MSRP on the mortar itself is $349.00.
If you know your history, it looks a lot like a WWII Japanese Type 89 grenade discharger. It was also known as the “knee mortar” due to US troops erroneously thinking you could brace the buttplate on your leg and fire it. That proved to be a bad idea. I wouldn’t try it with the IWA Mortar either. If you get one, follow their instructions.
Munitions
There are three types of munitions listed. The first is a Mortar Cluster Bang round. It has a range of 150 – 200 meters. The fuse burn time has a 6-second delay once you light it. It looks like there’s a striker on the back from the pics and the video on Instagram. The lift charge has a sound level of 130 dB.
The Cluster Bang has eight submunitions that each detonate with a 130 dB sound level as well. The fragmentation zone is listed as 10 meters. Presumably, this is just the cardboard casing from the round. More details on that will likely follow. MSRP for a Cluster Bang round is $39.99.
Next up is the Single Bang Mortar round. It too has a range of 150 – 200 meters and a 6-second fuse. It’s a single projectile and has a slightly louder 140 dB sound level when it explodes on target. The fragmentation zone for the Single is 5 meters. MSRP for it is slightly less than the Cluster round at $34.50.
Last up is the Mortar Smoke round. This is the only round currently available, according to the IWEA website. The bang rounds are listed as coming soon. It has the same 6-second fuse as the bangs. When it goes off, it emits smoke for 40-45 seconds. The Sound Level for the lift charge is 130 dB. There is no fragmentation associated with the smoke rounds. Red and White smoke is available for an MSRP of $37.99 each.
Sling and Heat Shield Package
The other accessory that IWA has for the mortar is a sling and heat shield package. It consists of a quick-detach sling with an integrated six-slot ammo pouch. There’s also a barrel wrap that protects you from heat and gives you a place to hold when firing. MSRP on the sling and heat shield is $84.99, and it’s available in Multicam or Ranger Green.
Who is this for, and how do I get it?
IWA says that the Mortar System is intended for military and police training, maritime signaling, the film industry, and paintball and airsoft use. It should work for scaring off wildlife from runways as well. I can definitely see it adding some extra spice to your local airsoft game for sure. Now, although the IWA Mortar is just launching smoke and noise rounds, it still does require that you get a Professional Pyrotechnic Certification.
The nice thing is that it’s free, and you can do it online. It only takes 15 to 20 minutes to take. I did one of these for another company that sells flash bangs. It was pretty easy if you paid attention to the training material. Once you pass your certification test, you also need to be at least 18 to purchase a mortar or munitions for one. IWA recommends you make sure you’re familiar with any applicable local or state laws as well.
The IWA Mortar seems to be a pretty unique product. Hand-held smoke and noise rounds aren’t uncommon, but I can’t say I’ve seen a mortar set up before. I wonder if there’s a chance they’ll do flares, or parachute flares for it down the road as well? If you have a use for one, or can come up with one, it’s a neat training aid or tool. I’m already thinking of how to explain to my wife that I probably need one of these.
Contrary to popular media portrayals, people in the gun industry are some of the most boring, most normal people you’ll ever meet. I mean that in a good way. They are normal family people with an interest in firearms, but they’ve turned it into a career. Most aren’t savvy arms dealers wheeling and dealing like Nic Cage in Lord of War. However, every so often, we get someone best described as interesting, and one of those interesting people is Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe.
Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe joins the ranks of people like Samuel Cummings and Heinrich Thomet, who have odd ties to odd people internationally and just seem to be in the right place at the right time. He was a Peruvian military officer who would jump from country to country, designing and selling guns and fairly commonly finding himself in some hot spots.
Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe – The Beginning
Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe started his arms career shortly after meeting famed submachine gun designer Gordon Ingram. It’s easy to see why this relationship started. Ingram had designed a fairly basic submachine gun known as the Model 6 and worked for a company he co-founded called Police Ordnance.
The Model 6 was somewhat successful. It got orders from a few police departments and even the Cuban Navy. Peru’s Army adopted the gun, and Gordon Ingram spent a year in Peru setting up the machinery to build the gun. While I can’t confirm this is how they met, it seems fairly obvious. As we know from Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe’s later achievements, he had an interest in low-cost, simplistic submachine guns.
Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe got a job at Police Ordnance in 1951 and immigrated to the United States. This is where things started to get interesting.
The Cuban Connection
While in the United States and working for Police Ordnance, Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe began to secretly work for Cuban Revolutionaries. The Batista regime was in full swing and was a brutal authoritarian government. While we can look back and say Castro’s government wasn’t any better, at the time, there was some hope that the people of Cuba could live in a free and democratic society.
Why would a Peruvian feel the need to arm Cuban revolutionaries? Perhaps it was simply a sense of duty to arm a revolutionary force he sympathized with. Maybe it was for money? His inspiration isn’t quite clear. Someone caught on, and the police pursued him.
He was either smart or lucky, and he dodged law enforcement and headed to Mexico. From Mexico, he continued to work and support the Cuban rebels. As we all know now, Castro won. With the success of Castro, Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe headed to Cuba to become Castro’s armorer.
Azicorbe set up shop in Cuba and attempted to create domestic production of firearms for Cuba. This didn’t last long. Instead of creating domestic arms production, Castro decided he’d use Soviet-supplied weaponry. Without much to do, Azicorbe headed back to the United States. It’s unclear why, and if he was still wanted.
Some sources claim he was still wanted in the United States, but others don’t mention this at all. With what comes next, maybe it was a mix of both?
Azicorbe and California
Azicorbe headed to California to set up shop in the 1960s. Some sources say he was still wanted, but he seemed unafraid of law enforcement and established Erquiaga Arms Co. According to a newspaper article published in 1965, and available in the CIA’s reading room, the company was licensed by Federal Authorities but was not licensed by the State of California.
He aimed to produce an incredibly simplistic submachine gun known as the MR-64. Additionally, he created a conversion system that could take an M1 Garand and convert it to a magazine-fed design. Erquiaga Arms Co. began producing and converting M1 Garands and produced the MR-64 submachine gun. It’s now 1964, and Castro is an enemy of the United States.
Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe produced guns with the intent to sell them to anti-Castro Cubans. He swapped sides fairly quickly after returning to the United States. A memo from the FBI lists two anti-Castro groups, JURE and Cuba Libre, that united and purchased M1 Garand rifles converted to M-14s from a California company; I think we can assume that Azicorbe and Erquiaga Arms Co. were behind the production of these guns.
It’s worth noting that, according to that same memo, the guns didn’t work very well. Additionally, Erquiaga Arms Co. received an order from Costa Rica for a batch of MR-64 submachine guns. In reality, these guns were intended to be sent to anti-Castro revolutionaries. A batch of MR-64 prototypes was sent to Miami.
The FBI Gets Involved
The FBI intercepted the shipment, but here is where things get murky. Only one was recovered by the FBI. The rest were diverted to the Dominican Republic, where they armed Communist revolutionaries. Either way, Juan made some money on the deal and proved to be more of a shrewd businessman than a thoughtful revolutionary.
So why didn’t the FBI arrest Juan Erquiaga? That’s the big question. It’s tough to say because he had a legit order from Costa Rica, which was placing the order to disguise the production and shipment of the guns. The conspiracy theory is that Juan had friends in the government who also wanted to arm the anti-Castro Cubans.
Shortly after the initial conundrum, he hired Gordon Ingram to work for him and help improve the MR-64. The MR-64 was nothing more than a slightly modified STEN gun. Gordon Ingram helped create some improvements, like a compensator and a weight to reduce the weapon’s rate of fire. They produced nearly 500 MR-64 SMGs, but Costa Rica backed out of the deal.
There was no more official, approved order they could use to siphon guns to anti-Castro rebels. With the official order gone, the FBI raided the facility, seized the guns, and some 100,000 rounds of ammo. Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe fled the country before he could be arrested and remained in South America.
The End
That was the end of Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe and his firearms work as far as I can tell. Was he hooked up with the CIA? That’s all speculation. However, he was willing to sell simple guns to anti-Castro forces, and the CIA was interested in toppling the man.
The former Castro armorer turned against him sounds like a great story, but it’s not something we’ll likely learn the truth about anytime soon. It’s still a fascinating story, and Juan Erquiaga Azicorbe is an international man of mystery.
Revolvers are making a comeback. A big one. Why? I guess we are all bored with black plastic guns, finally. If you’re like me, the revolver is a bit foreign to you. I’ve shot ten times the ammo from an automatic than from a revolver. Revolver beginners might feel a little confused, but have no fear, we’ve gathered the five best revolvers for beginners.
I’m biased toward this gun. It’s probably my favorite revolver ever. I carry it fairly often, and I love shooting it. Hitting targets at 50 yards with a snub nose revolver will never get old. The presence of a rear iron sight instead of a trench in the top strap results in a gun that’s super easy to shoot. The use of the .32 H&R Magnum cartridge makes it easy to control and shoot with less recoil than more traditional revolver calibers.
The Ultimate Carry Configuration gives you a nice, fat grip that’s easy to handle and makes drawing easy. The trigger is fantastic, and S&W ditched the internal lock with the UC guns. The use of .32 H&R Magnum allows you to chamber six rounds rather than five. The downside is clear: the .32 H&R Magnum isn’t as common and can be expensive. However, the sights, the low recoil, and the excellent features make it a great beginner’s gun.
Taurus 856 Defender TORO
If you’re like me, you’re spoiled by red dots on handguns. I won’t purchase a modern semi-auto unless it’s optics-ready these days. Revolvers have been hit or miss with optics, and most revolver-ready optics are designed for competition or hunting. The 856 Defender TORO is a carry revolver designed to integrate micro red dots we see on semi-auto platforms.
The gun uses a plate to mount an RMSc-style optic, and it’s perfect for beginners. The 856 Defender is a six-shot, .38 Special revolver with a three-inch barrel. That combination of features makes this a fantastic revolver for new shooters. Red dots make shooting faster, further, and straighter easier. It takes a little adjustment to jump from optics on semi-autos to optics on revolvers, but it’s not a big jump.
Ruger LCR .22LR
One of the best ways to get your toes into the revolver world is to find an affordable .22LR. The Ruger LCR offers a .22LR gun that could be carried with ease if need be. It offers a low-recoil alternative to centerfire calibers and can hold a total of eight rounds. Recoil amounts to a small burp and not much more. The trigger is a bit heavier than most LCR models but is still smooth and easy to handle.
The Ruger LCR utilizes polymer to keep the gun light while also keeping the cost fairly low. The ammo is incredibly common and affordable. Even high-end .22LR costs hardly anything. The LCR is an extremely common and easy-to-find revolver that won’t leave you high and dry. The little LCR in .22LR makes getting into snub nose revolvers affordable, offers additional capacity, and strays away from the stiff recoil associated with these small guns. The .22LR is a great place for beginners to start.
Charter Arms Double Dog
Charter Arms has made a good comeback in recent years. I’m a revolver newbie, but revolver experts I know and respect have shown that Charter Arms has made some serious quality improvements. The Double Dog is a convertible revolver that fires either .357 Magnum or 9mm. The Double Dog allows you to swap cylinders in seconds.
The 3-inch variant is my suggested model. It makes taming .357 fairly easy and turns .38 Special and 9mm into soft shooters. The ability to use multiple calibers makes life a lot cheaper and makes ammo much easier to find. The Double Dog is simple as far as revolvers go, but I’m a fan of 9mm wheelguns. I’d train with a 9mm for the low price and carry a .357 Magnum.
S&W Model 10
The S&W Model 10 is the quintessential revolver. It’s been kicking around since 1899 and has gone by many names. It’s a medium-frame .38 Special revolver that served countless police forces and many military forces. They have been produced en masse, and S&W makes a Classic model these days. You can find an affordable Model 10 on the used market with ease.
Smith and Wesson
A Model 10 with a 4-inch barrel is a fantastic revolver for new shooters. It’s not too big, not too small, and can be a solid and smooth shooter. It’s one of the most proven revolvers, and while it’s remarkably simple, it’s also remarkably capable. It has low recoil, excellent accuracy, and a just-right configuration that makes it a wonderful gun for revolver beginners.
Beginners and Revolvers
As a dude spoiled on automatics, I will say revolvers have an interesting learning curve. I don’t shoot them as well as automatics, but I’m having a ton of fun learning. If you’re on the fence, my advice is to dive in. Find a good revolver for beginners and start making that wheel spin.
I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals. Like, a lot a lot. Not as a patient, mind you, but visiting and assisting family and other loved ones. And more often than not, the visits went on far longer than planned. What was supposed to be a two-hour procedure ends up taking 8-10 hours or more.
Over the years, experience has taught me what I should bring with me. This isn’t necessarily a bag that I’d keep packed and ready to go at any time, though I could see that as being a good idea in some situations. Instead, look at this as a checklist of sorts.
Boredom Relievers
First and foremost, bring something to do while you’re waiting in the hospital. I like to read, so I’ll usually have a book or a couple of magazines. Some folks like crossword puzzles or word finds, that sort of thing. A deck of cards is a great addition. While it’s good to have something you can do by yourself, playing cards with others in your group or family can help pass the time. Travel-size games are also good, especially if you’ll have children with you.
Electronics
I keep a portable charger as well as a wall plug charger and cord for my phone in my EDC bag. If you don’t do the same, then make sure you grab one for your hospital bag. Despite the books, games, and whatnot you’ve packed, odds are you’ll spend more time than you should surfing social media and draining your phone’s battery.
Sustenance
Having snacks and a water bottle or other soft drink will prevent, or at least delay, visits to the hospital cafeteria or vending machines. Bear in mind that many hospitals today seem to rival college campuses in size. As such, it’s fairly easy to lose your way. The less walking you do, the less the chance of you getting lost on your way back.
Cash
Despite your best efforts, if you’re there long enough, you’ll end up spending money on food and such. While many machines today take credit cards, I like to hedge my bet and keep at least a few bucks in cash and coins available.
Notes
You may want or need to write down things like medications, dosages, expected side effects, and follow-up care instructions. They’ll probably provide you with some printouts as well. A notebook will help keep you organized. Don’t forget a couple of pens or pencils.
Extra Layer
Hospitals are notoriously chilly. A light sweatshirt or sweater is wise. If you decide to curl up and take a snooze, you’ll be glad to have that extra layer.
As I said at the outset, this isn’t really a bag that you’d pack and keep prepped in advance. Unless, of course, you have a loved one who is in poor health and sudden trips to the hospital are common. Even so, I can tell you from experience that it won’t take more than maybe 10 minutes to gather all of these items and toss them into a duffel or shoulder bag.
ANR Designs is mostly known for making fantastic holsters. They often make holsters for guns that are under-supported, like the CZ P09 series, or for popular guns with unpopular lights, like a SIG P365 and a Foxtrot365XR. Out of nowhere, they also produced the Ukon optics mount, and it’s not your typical red dot mount.
The Ukon mount was created to satisfy a specific special operations contract for an incredibly compact weapon. The system didn’t have much room for iron sights after adding the usual light, laser, and optic combo. The Ukon aimed to provide a set of backup iron sights built into an optics mount. The mount was intended to be ultra-lightweight and to work with red dots.
ANR Designs won the contest, and the secret squirrels got a micro-sized optic to work with their SIG Rattlers. ANR Designs then did the best thing they could: they made the Ukon mount available to the general public, and they made it available for a few different red dots. This includes the Aimpoint micro footprint, the Trijicon RMR, Aimpoint ACRO, SIG Romeo4T, and the Holosun AEMS.
ANR Designs was kind enough to send me one of the Ukon mounts for my AEMS, and I put it to work.
The Ukon and Me
The Ukon was made for those micro-sized platforms, and I have plenty of those. As a PDW enjoyer, the Ukon fits plenty of my firearms. I have plenty that are tight on room, but ultimately it landed on a CMMG Banshee, which is tight on space. The AEMS mounts directly to the optic’s mount and sits the red dot at a 1.7-inch height.
The optic feels rock solid, but weighs a mere 2.2 ounces. The Ukon is constructed from 6061 aluminum and has a typical Type 3 hard coat finish. It attaches at two points and locks on super solid. Installing the AEMS on the Ukon was a breeze. However, the Ukon eliminates the ability to use the AEMS-style flip cover mounts.
Since the iron sights are built into the mount, it allows for a complete cowitness. The sights are very simple. The front sight is an adjustable AR-type sight, and the rear sight is a fixed open design, much like a handgun. The open rear sight makes it easy to mount the optic wherever and allows you to see through the sights.
The front sight acts as a backup sight, but it’s also an alternative option for different loads. If you’re swapping from supersonics to subsonics with a .300 Blackout, you can zero the elevation to deal with subs and the dot for supers.
Rocking and Rolling Up the Ukon
With the Ukon equipped to my CMMG Banshee, I took the gun to the range and spewed lead. I started with a focus on the target and using the dot. The 1.7-inch centerline height of the mount encourages a heads-up shooting style, but if that’s not tall enough for you, there are taller options.
Admittedly, I’m spoiled by just folding sights down and out of the way. The built-in iron sights are ever-present in your view through the optic, but if you’re focusing on the target, you’ll only notice them if you try.
The dot works, the optic keeps things mounted, and ultimately, it’s going to work as a mount. I’m not testing the AEMS, I’m testing the Ukon, so I turned the optic off and used the sights. The sight radius is superbly short, which isn’t going to do wonders for precision accuracy.
This setup works best within 50-ish yards. Anything further than that and it’s a guide more than a sight. The iron sights worked perfectly fine at CQB distances where I’d use the Banshee, and where most PDWs would be used. At 50 yards, hitting C-zone steel was ridiculously easy.
Hitting gongs at 50 yards wasn’t an issue either. It’s easy and it works well within that range. I’m not printing tiny little groups by any means, but I’m ringing 10-inch steel repeatedly. The short sight radius does have the advantage of speed. Short sight radius and open sights are built for speed.
Going Fast
It works almost like a red dot up close. Just aim and go, and I imagine that benefit is felt by users of PDW-style firearms. Since the rear sight is open, we just drop behind it, and we can easily use a semi-target-focused sight picture. Get the front sight on target up close, and you’ll most likely hit it.
As the range extends, make sure the rear sight is more in play and the precision increases. It won’t replace the sights on a 5.56 rifle, but on a submachine gun, a subgun, or a similar platform, this sight setup works.
The ANR Designs Ukon is a fantastic optics mount, and while it has a niche use case, it’s a valid use case. With the growing surge of small platforms and PDWs, optics mounts like these are quite handy to have.
Nature is a great getaway from stress, your daily routine, and the hustle and bustle of urban living. Many times, a few-hour hike can do wonders to clear the cobwebs from your mind and allow you to regain your focus and confidence in life. However, a hike has its own set of problems. From meandering off the trail to encountering nature’s predatory residents, to being bitten alive by pests, a peaceful hike can turn into a real-life nightmare. There are solutions to all these dangers of solo hiking, though, and once prepared, your time out in nature will be beneficial and stress-free.
One of the biggest mistakes made by both newbies and seasoned pros is not informing anyone of their quick trek into the woods. This can have life-threatening ramifications. People who don’t leave an itinerary of their hike usually fail to do so for one of two reasons.
First, they are experienced hikers and believe that they don’t need anyone to back them up because of their own vast experience. While it may be true that they hiked a certain trail numerous times, nature can always throw a curveball their way. Weather conditions can change, predatory animals may be on the hunt, or a misstep may send them down a dangerous embankment.
Second, a newbie may not even have thought to tell others their plans. This can be because of their inexperience, and this can ultimately cost them greatly.
Pack Accordingly
Not preparing properly can injure or kill you, even on a short, few-hour hike. Essentials such as a disposable poncho, a few snacks, enough water to stay hydrated, a lighter or other fire-making materials, and signaling devices if lost. Additionally, the ideal item to carry is a satellite phone or GPS signaler, so no matter how deep in nature you are, you can send a signal for help or rescue.
Don’t just throw items into a bag and go. Rather, take an intelligent approach and configure the best weight-to-gear ratio for your hike. On one hand, you want to stay lightweight with gear; on the other, you need to carry the essentials. Pre-planning is key to packing perfectly for your specific outing and avoiding one of the common dangers of solo hiking.
Stay in-Tuned
Hiking alone is not like traveling in a large group. You have one set of eyes instead of six or more sets. As such, you need to be in tune with everything that’s going on around you. Being careful where you step and staying on course on the trail is essential. Staying always wary of dangerous animals that may cross your path is entirely in your own hands. No one will be there to watch your back.
With that being said, you can’t be glued to your cellphone screen or listening loudly to music in your Bluetooth earphones. Any distractions could bring trouble your way, so the best thing you can do is disconnect and connect to nature itself.
Be Ready for Bites
Although you may be the only human on the trail for miles around, you’re definitely not alone in the woods. From the smallest insect to the largest bear or moose, your mood and physical well-being can all be affected by interacting with wildlife. Mosquitos can bite until your skin is a pimply, itchy mess. The continual scratching can increase irritability, which in turn can cause you to make rash decisions.
Mosquito head nets, wearing long-sleeved clothing, and using insect repellent can aid with biting bugs. This common occurrence in the outdoors is often overlooked as one of the dangers of solo hiking.
Beware the Big Ones
On a larger scale, being mauled by predatory animals is a very real possibility. Also, don’t ignore smaller mammals like raccoons and foxes. These aren’t cute or domesticated. They can bite and pass to you dangerous diseases like rabies. Bacterial infections can also occur from the animal’s bite. Bear mace, carrying a pointed walking stick, and avoiding the offspring of aggressive animals can help to keep you safe.
Let’s not forget about snakes. If you go out into nature, expect to encounter one. Thick, over-the-ankle-high boots can assist with low-attacking bites. Investing in snake gaiters is also wise if traveling through thick underbrush.
Know your Limits
One key takeaway when hiking alone is to know your limits. Don’t go beyond your comfortable hiking distance. Although you may feel you can take on the world, after a few hours, fatigue will set in. Also, if your trail doesn’t circle around, you have to hike that same distance back to your starting point.
The more you convince yourself to push forward, the greater risk you’ll have of not physically making it back. Also, climbing steep embankments, hopping on stones in a shallow river bed, and going off-trail through thick brush to save time are not the best choices to make when hiking alone. You risk getting injured with no one with you to help.
Even if you have done seemingly reckless things over the years, age isn’t forgiving. If you are past your peak, activities can become much more challenging.
The Numerous Benefits
Now, not everything is doom and gloom for the solo hiker. If you take all the necessary precautions, you can reap the numerous benefits nature has to offer. First, you are in control. You can set your itinerary, take as many rest stops as you like, and not have to worry about other people’s needs. After that, you can focus solely on nature and all its wonders on your terms.
Additionally, going alone into nature builds confidence and mental strength, and can help overcome fears of being alone. If done right, solo hiking can be highly rewarding for recharging both mind and body!
The Intratec TEC-9 is an infamous pistol. It gets the anti-gunners’ panties in a bunch and is a true testament to the fact that the anti-gun crowd knows nothing about guns. The TEC-9 is a terrible firearm. It’s not reliable, has excessive recoil, is not very accurate, and generally isn’t built very well.
They certainly look cool. The TEC-9’s appearance made the gun massively successful. It looks scary, and it looks like it should be a full-auto firearm. It’s not; it LARPs as a machine pistol with an intimidating appearance thanks to its large size and ventilated barrel shroud.
The gun might not have performed very well, but it was cheap and sold well. They sold incredibly well; over a quarter million were made and sold. They were so popular that Intratec continued to produce various models after numerous bans to keep the market. Anything that’s popular will be cloned.
Everyone wants a piece of the proverbial pie, and with that in mind, let’s talk about some of the companies that more or less cloned the TEC-9. The TEC-9, as a firearm, is most well-known for its forward magazine design, its blowback operation, and general largeness factor. Three distinct clones of the TEC-9 have emerged, and I think one might be surprising.
Kimmel AP-9
The Kimmel AP-9 looks like an uncanny valley version of the TEC-9. If you described a TEC-9 to a sketch artist, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a drawing of the AP-9. The Kimmel AP-9 has the ventilated barrel shroud, the forward magazine design, and the TEC-9 layout. They even used a healthy amount of polymer for the lower receiver.
I’d argue the Kimmel AP-9 is better than the TEC-9 in a few ways. The sights are better, not by a lot, but they are sturdier. The ergonomics are better, with a safety that’s not just a charging handle. It’s not necessarily a good gun, but it’s better than the TEC-9.
A.A. Arms out of North Carolina produced the AP-9 for about six years and ceased production in 1994. The most interesting AP-9 was probably the Target model with a 12 or 11-inch barrel, depending on the year. It looks like they intended to produce a rifle version with a folding stock, but it’s either very rare or was never produced and sold.
Enfield MP-45
John Foote was no dummy. He was an American designer who decided to cash in on the Enfield name. Enfield America had no relation to the British Enfield. This did mean Mr. Foote had to change the name to Encom eventually, but the gall to use Enfield on a TEC-9 clone is hilarious.
The Enfield MP-45 came in both 9mm and .45 ACP, which gave it a unique caliber for TEC-9 clones. The MP-45 features a very long magwell that seems to be intended to double as a forward grip, so you don’t have to use the magazine as a grip, which could ruin your reliability. The MP-45 used an AR grip, which was neat for the time.
The gun allowed for quick barrel changes, and a carbine kit was produced. It allowed you to add a 16-inch barrel and a wire stock. It’s kinda neat. The really neat version was the ultra-rare side-loading model, which was a lot like a Sten gun, which I want so damn bad.
Beretta PMX/s
Yep, Beretta qualifies for producing a TEC-9 clone. It’s the most refined version of a TEC-9 to ever exist, but it qualifies. Am I being sacrilegious? Let’s look at it. Blowback operated, tubular bolt, reciprocating bolt, forward magazine, 9mm, and a handguard that’s more or less ventilated?
It’s different, a lot different, but the PMX/s lines up with the TEC-9 in a lot of ways. Even the lower receiver is made from polymer. Like the TEC-9, the PMX/s descends from a submachine gun and serves as a semi-auto pistol. The PMX/s does have fantastic ergonomics; it’s also reliable, accurate, and easy to shoot.
The Beretta PMX/s is the best TEC-9 clone by far. It might not be what you’d picture as a TEC-9 clone, but boy oh boy, it scores high on the TEC-9 scale. With that said, if you ever buy a TEC-9 clone, buy the PMX/s and don’t buy the rare side-loading Encom; save that for me.
TEC-9 Clones
Only the first two of these TEC-9 clones were built to compete with the TEC-9. These two were built to cash in on the TEC-9 design and popularity, but never reached the same degree of fame or infamy. The Beretta is clearly a few decades removed and not just a simplistic clone trying to cash in on the TEC-9 infamy. Interestingly, such a terrible gun has remained in its design to this day.
