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BEW Titanium Folding Saw – Big Work, Small Footprint

By
Reuben Bolieu
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Each tailored for a specific type of adventurer, the BEW Titanium Folding Camp Saw comes in four sizes—21", 24", 30", and 36".

The BEW Titanium Folding Saw is what happens when weight savings, durability, and field-tested utility meet in one tool. Then it politely asks aluminum to take a seat. I used this saw daily in the Adirondacks on a multiday camp trip, and now I’m a believer! 

The BEW Titanium Folding Saw

Brautigam Expedition Works crafts high-performance, ultralight tools for serious backcountry use. They blend durability with a zero-nonsense design. Likewise, they prioritize premium materials like titanium and Cordura, hand-build gear with precision, and skip gimmicks. This is in favor of field-tested functionality.

From folding saws to pack shovels, every product reflects their mission to create tools that withstand the harshest environments, without weighing you down. When BEW creates something, they build it to be the last version you’ll ever need.

Standing dead wood a few inches wide stood zero chance against the 21-inch BEW Titanium Folding Saw.

The BEW Titanium Folding Camp Saw is available in four sizes—21″, 24″, 30″, and 36″. BEW designed each for a specific type of adventurer. The 21″ and 24″ saws are ultralight dynamos built for hikers, bike packers, and backcountry hunters. These adventurers consider every ounce a sacred metric. Weighing in at under a pound with the wood blade, these sizes pack serious cutting capacity—up to 8″ logs—without the bulk. They also accommodate optional bone and meat blades, making them ideal for hunting big game.

Users can depend on the 30″ and 36″ models for heavy-duty fieldwork. BEW designed them for larger tasks. Whether you’re winter camping, trail clearing, or acting as the unofficial lumberjack of your guide crew, these saws offer 9″ and 10″ cutting capacities, respectively. They can even be operated by two people to speed things along.

As a bonus, both include stove-length graduations etched into the frame. This feature allows for easy firewood sizing—a small touch that’s surprisingly useful when you’re hungry and cold.

BEW Titanium Saw Advantage 

The BEW Titanium Folding Saw was fitted with a dry wood blade for this Adirondack adventure.

Now, let’s talk titanium—the silent flex. Titanium offers a trifecta of backwoods brilliance. First, it’s stronger than steel. Second, it weighs significantly less. Third, it laughs in the face of rust, salt, and UV exposure. It’s also a terrible conductor of heat. This means your fingers won’t freeze while gripping the saw in winter conditions—a subtle win you’ll appreciate when the mercury drops.

The design itself is refreshingly practical. Round tubing reduces hand fatigue and blade binding, and the tension system mimics the simplicity of stringing a longbow—no cams, no wingnuts, no nonsense. Changing blades is tool-free, and the blade stores safely inside the frame, which is dishwasher safe (yes, even the bone blade).

Each saw comes housed in a tough Cordura soft case. The smaller sizes sport a minimalist cord tie, and the big saws use a rugged in-house titanium G-hook.

BEW Titanium vs Other Folding Saws

When comparing the BEW Titanium Folding Saw to others like the Silky BigBoy or Sven-Saw, it’s clear the BEW is a cut above. It is a precision tool that combines durability with elegance.

Material Edge – Many camp saws rely on aluminum or steel, which can be heavy and prone to rust. In contrast, the BEW’s titanium is lightweight, corrosion-resistant, and warm to the touch, making it ideal for cold, wet conditions.

Design Smarts – Traditional folding saws can be bulky and require maintenance due to their complex mechanisms. The BEW features a simple, tool-free tension system, with the blade hiding inside the frame for easy packing.

Blade Options – Unlike most saws that offer a single blade type, the BEW allows for quick swaps in the field between wood and meat. This meets a hunter’s needs effortlessly.

Portability and Casework – The carry case is well-designed. Smaller models feature Cordura sleeves, and larger ones are equipped with efficient titanium G-hook closures. While Silky is known for pruning and Sven focuses on simplicity, the BEW serves backcountry users—ultralight hikers, winter campers, and hunters. Its larger models even support two-person use for urgent firewood tasks.

Double-teamed, the BEW Titanium Folding Saw finished felling a small tree after the axe chopped the initial kerf.

Closing

The BEW Titanium Folding Saw doesn’t just join the camp saw conversation—it rewrites the topic. It’s not the saw you grab from your garage on a whim. You invest in it, trust it in extreme conditions, and enjoy geeking out over it because it clearly shows a commitment to intentional design.

The Sputter Gun – The FRT In the 1980s

By
Travis Pike
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The FRT, or forced reset trigger, has been the subject of much discussion and legal opinions that were not and are not legislation. An FRT is designed to simulate full-auto fire, but every round fired requires you to pull the trigger. This simulates full-auto fire and allows you to partially experience the joy and fun of full-auto fire without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars and deal with the ATF. Before the FRT, someone else had a similar idea, and it was called the Sputter Gun.

The Sputter Gun

The Sputter Gun came to be prior to the Hughes Amendment, which prevented the new production of full-auto firearms. The idea for the Sputter Gun originated in 1977, a time when $200 was a lot of money, and tax stamps took months, required going to the post office, and were fairly misunderstood. A man named William York from Utah knew a universal truth about gun owners:

We want full-auto firearms, and we don’t want the Federal government to tell us we can’t.

The Origin of the Sputter Gun

William York was a Type 2 FFL holder, which meant he was a dealer, manufacturer, and importer of NFA firearms. Importing NFA weapons gave Mr. York access to a ton of different weapons. World War II wasn’t last week in 1977, but it wasn’t that far off either. There were still piles of Sten guns sitting in warehouses across the world.

This is where Mr. York came into contact with Samuel Cummings. Samuel Cummings might be one of the most interesting men involved in the arms industry. He created Interarms, which was a massive importer of firearms. It was like Century Arms before Century Arms. He imported tons of milsurp guns and transported even more around the world.

Cummings also worked for the CIA. He worked for the CIA during Korea, but according to recently released files on the JFK assassination, he remained a CIA asset. This is off-topic, but I always have to throw the Samuel Cummings facts in. Samuel Cummings owned one of those warehouses of British Mk 2 STEN guns.

He purchased and imported the entire stock of STEN Guns.

Building the Sputter Gun

Have you ever looked at a STEN gun? It’s one of the simplest weapons ever produced. It was designed to be cheap and easy to produce. They were simple, direct blowback-operated, open-bolt submachine guns. It’s tough to get a simpler weapon. Yet, Mr. York found a way to do so.

He shortened the barrel, removed the stock and trigger device, and installed a tiny grip under the ejection port and magazine well. Removing the trigger simplified an already simple design.

Mr. York’s idea seemed to be making the Sputter Gun NFA-free. This meant removing the stock as well. In its place, he installed a half-circle brace device. This might be the first example of a pistol brace as it’s designed to be braced against the bicep, similar to the stock on the High Standard HS10.

Source Unknown

How did the Sputter Gun work exactly? Sten guns have a bolt lock notch, and with the Sputter Gun, that becomes important. The user needs to lock the bolt into the bolt lock and insert the magazine. To fire the gun, the user would push the bolt out of the bolt lock, and as an open-bolt gun, it would slam forward.

As the gun slammed forward, it would fire. It would fire full-auto, and it wouldn’t stop firing until the magazine was depleted. Essentially, the Sputter Gun was a runaway gun, and purposefully slow.

We don’t rightly know where the ATF would fall on this ruling. Mr. York asked the ATF prior to developing the Sputter Gun, but they referred to federal law. Federal law refers to a trigger being used. Mr. York’s logic was that if the gun didn’t have a trigger, it wasn’t a machine gun. I like this man, and I like his logic.

The U.S. Congress defined a machine gun in the 1934 National Firearms Act:

“…any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.”

The ATF never made an official ruling on the Sputter Gun, and the most we got was a Firearm Technician declaring it could be a machine gun if you considered your finger a machine gun. You can read more about that at the Oath and Bonds substack here.

The Sputter Gun never moved beyond the prototype stage and was never sold. I can’t help but wonder if Mr. York just wanted to rabble-rouse. Part of me still wishes he sold a few to see what the fallout could have been, but that’s easy to say from behind a computer in 2025.

The Sputter Gun and the FRT are trying to do the same thing. I wonder if anyone else has tried to get around the “must have a trigger” rule, even if it’s completely ridiculous and absurd.

The Combat Shotgun – Worth the Squeeze?

By
Travis Pike
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Does the combat shotgun still matter in modern warfare? Does it have a place amongst the infantry or with civilian minutemen? Has the combat shotgun been replaced with the light and maneuverable 5.56 carbine? It would certainly seem so. As a very biased source, I do think the combat shotgun is still a capable weapon that excels in a few niche roles.

The Combat Shotgun

When I say niche roles, I don’t mean breaching, anti-drone operations, or even less-lethal options. That turns the shotgun into a tool rather than a combat shotgun. There is a difference, and while the tool use of the shotgun is notable, it’s not what I’m discussing today. I want to talk about the shotgun as a combat weapon.

Where It Falters

The downsides to the shotgun are numerous, especially compared to the carbine. A shotgun, loaded with buckshot, has an effective range of about 50 yards with basic buckshot ammo. Even 50 yards is a bit generous, and it excels within 35 yards and closer. Those shotgun pellets can still kill and seriously harm beyond those ranges, but it’s less likely to hit where you’re aiming.

Shotgun ammo is incredibly bulky compared to 5.56. Eight shotgun shells take up the same space as 30 5.56 rounds. Shotguns also hold less ammo, with five to eight being fairly typical. This means reloading must be a trained skill in modern warfare. The combat shotgun requires a lot of specialized training to master.

If an infantry squad or infantry unit is willing to train its troops to a high degree of competency with the shotgun, it can be an extremely effective combat tool in some niche scenarios.

Jungle Warfare

Jungle warfare is what got me thinking about the shotgun’s effectiveness. I live in the swampy part of Florida. It’s not necessarily a jungle, but it has some of the same restrictions. It’s tight, close quarters, and anything you run into is likely to be close. I hunt with a shotgun most often because in the swamps of Florida, the weapon shines.

In jungles, the shotgun can be a capable tool because it’s likely you’ll stumble into enemy forces. The thickness of the jungle kills your vision and ability to detect threats. When you stumble into the enemy, the shotgun excels at dealing with threats. In the book Pointman, Navy SEAL Chief James Watson famously carried an eight-shot Ithaca 37 loaded with No. 4 buckshot in Vietnam.

His book Pointman details the use of the shotgun and why it was such an effective tool. The Ithaca used by Chief Watson is even on display at the Navy SEAL Museum. It was effective then, and it’s effective now. The spread of buckshot helps guarantee a hit when fired through dense vegetation.

It allows for a faster reactive shot, and the spread allows your aim to be less than perfect but still effective. Its spread becomes a strength in the jungle where you can’t always see your threat, but you might see muzzle flashes or slight bits of movement. While you still have to aim a shotgun, you don’t need to refine your aim as well. You can react. With the Marine Corps’ focus on fighting China in littoral areas, the shotgun could be handy for an island-hopping campaign.

Urban Warfare

Shotgun use in Iraq was centered on urban warfare. Iraq had huge, dense cities with people stacked on top of each other. Guns like the Benelli M1014 and the Mossberg 590 were used for breaching, but also for combat purposes. Cities are urban jungles, and combat shotguns excel in both jungles for the same reason.

In urban environments, you’re also often forced into close-quarters fighting. The reactive, speed-based, and decisive design of the shotgun can again excel. If your enemy pops out of a window to spray an AK at you, the combat shotgun is an excellent way to respond. It allows for a quick, decisive shot to be made.

The spread of shot can help cover a multitude of sins, and while it’s not a wall of lead, accuracy is a game of inches. Multiple projectiles tend to be a decisive way to end an engagement, and even a single pellet can be lethal. Much like a jungle, the enemy has lots of places to naturally hide, and the shotgun can be a capable tool for those quick, running shots. Shotguns work well on moving birds and moving bad guys.

Night Fighting

Night fighting is another realm where speed and decisiveness win. If you’re stuck up close in a night fight, the shotgun can be an excellent tool to have. If you’re in a situation where you have night vision and the enemy does not, the fight is much likelier to be up close.

When both forces have night vision devices, the combat shotgun and its advantages fade away. Again, we come down to the need for quickly fired shots, which often don’t have refined aim. Instead of spraying with a carbine, a shotgun can deliver that spread of shot into and at a target. Being a few inches off can still result in a successful shot.

Close Ambushes

The combat shotgun excels in close ambushes. A close ambush is defined as an ambush at 50 yards or closer. Shotguns allow you to put a lot of pellets in the air very quickly with a quick reaction speed. You can shoot at muzzle flashes and have a greater chance of landing a hit. It’s not guaranteed, but your chance is a bit higher.

SEALs experimented with full-auto shotguns for this very task in Vietnam. Full-auto shotguns were always a bit of a mess, but semi-auto and even pump shotguns can still be excellent anti-ambush tools.

The Combat Shotgun Today

The combat shotgun can be an extremely useful tool. It’s a niche tool, and that niche design has made it less likely to be fielded and even less likely to be trained with by modern military forces. The carbine is the better tool, and if you only have time to train troops with one weapon, make it the carbine. However, the combat shotgun can be a viable weapon for the modern military

EDC Dance Partners – MKM Pocket Tangos

By
Jim Cobb
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Pocket Tango

David C. Andersen is a well-respected authority on knives. He’s been writing about them for ages and works for KnifeCenter. He has his own knife company called Nordsmith Knives and also designs knives with other companies. Like me, Andersen is a fan of the pocket fixed blade. The Pocket Tango duo is his first production knife collaboration release.

The MKM Pocket Tango: Dancing the Knife Away

As Andersen puts it, the knife was designed to be your everyday dance partner. The Pocket Tango comes in three iterations. Pocket Tango 1 has a Nessmuk-inspired blade profile. The Pocket Tango 2 has a lambsfoot blade. Some call it a reverse tanto. There is also a Pocket Tango 3 with a sheepsfoot blade that isn’t included in this review.

The knives are made from MagnaCut, the latest, greatest steel that’s been sweeping through the knife world. That sounds flippant, but it has absolutely earned a solid reputation for high quality, toughness, and edge retention.

The Pocket Tango 1 and 2 are identical in size. The knife is 6.69 inches long, with a 2.91-inch blade. They differ just slightly in weight, with the Pocket Tango 1 coming in at 2.54 ounces and the Pocket Tango 2 weighing 2.33 ounces. These may also differ slightly based on the handle material, as each model is available in several different iterations.

Pocket Tango - size
The Pocket Tango is comparable in size to Benchmade’s popular Bugout folding knife.

The Pocket Tangos are produced by LionSteel in Italy.

Amazing Ergonomics

I mentioned my love of pocket carry fixed blades. The downside is that I have large hands and dislike a three-finger grip on my blades. This leads to difficulty in finding that Goldilocks model that fits both my pocket and my hand equally well.

Andersen has pulled it off with this knife design. To be fair, it’s more of a 3.5 finger grip than all four, but there’s enough real estate on the handle to be comfortable for me to hold and use. There’s also enough meat with the palm swells, so the knife doesn’t feel lost in my hand.

The spine is nicely rounded. There’s a bit of jimping to provide added traction for detail work. A lanyard hole is located at the base of the handle.

Both models are available in several different handle configurations. They’ve also included a wrench so that the scales can be removed or replaced as desired.

Pocket Tango - wrench
The Pocket Tango comes with a small wrench to remove and replace handle scales as desired.

Personally, I gravitated more toward the Pocket Tango 1 over the 2, but both are versatile and handy.

Well-Designed Sheaths

For many makers, if a sheath is included with the knife, it’s treated almost as an afterthought. It’s nothing special or fancy, just a simple way to protect the blade and keep it secure. Here, it’s obvious that a lot of thought went into the sheath design.

Pocket Tango - sheath
The knife sits deep enough to be secure, but with enough handle exposed to draw it easily.

Rather than a pocket clip, the sheath is secured with a magnet. This allows you to easily remove the sheath as needed. The magnet also serves to help secure the knife in place, which is a nice bonus. When the knife is in the sheath, you have a total overall length of about 7.5 inches. This isn’t bad at all for pocket carry.

Pocket Tango - magnet
The Pocket Tango sheath is equipped with a magnet strap.

Retailing well below $200, the Pocket Tango is an excellent option for an EDC fixed blade. Andersen did an incredible job with the design, and MKM and LionSteel did equally well with the production end of things.

Combinations Guns – Weird, Refined, and Always Awesome

By
Travis Pike
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Combination guns, a small and niche genre of firearms, are often overlooked in the modern era. These firearms uniquely combine multiple barrels and calibers, most commonly a mix of rifle and shotgun. While primarily used for hunting, combination guns have also been used for, or experimented with, for military applications.

Types of Combination Guns

Today, we’ll explore three main types of combination guns: traditional combination guns, tactical combination guns, and combination handguns.

Traditional Combination Guns

Traditional combination guns were popular for hunting, especially in Europe, offering a “one and done” solution that reduced the amount of gear hunters needed to carry.

Cape Guns

Cape guns are side-by-side designs featuring one shotgun barrel and one rifle barrel. These were typically custom-made firearms, and it wasn’t uncommon to find variants chambered in .303 British and 12 gauge, though calibers varied based on origin.

Drillings

Drillings, a German term meaning “triplets,” are three-barreled combination guns. The most common configuration is two shotgun barrels and one rifle barrel, but examples with two rifle barrels and a shotgun barrel also exist. The Sauer M30 drilling, for instance, was even used by military forces; the Luftwaffe issued it during World War II for aircrews in Africa to defend against potential big game attacks, though it wasn’t a primary martial weapon.

Vierlings

The rarest of all traditional combination guns is the vierling. These four-barreled drillings were high-end, custom-made firearms. Common configurations included two shotgun barrels, one .22 caliber rifle barrel, and one high-caliber rifle barrel.

(Johan Fanzoj)

Tactical Combination Guns

The concept of combination guns also extended into the modern tactical world, particularly for aircrew survival.

The U.S. issued the M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon, which combined a .410 barrel with a .22 Hornet barrel, primarily designed to help downed pilots procure food. Similarly, Russia issued the TP-82 to cosmonauts for emergency use upon returning to Earth.

Many replicas of the M6 have been produced in various calibers, and other survival guns, like the Chiappa Double Badger and the Savage Model 42, have been inspired by its design.

There have also been numerous attempts to combine grenade launchers and rifles into a single platform, beyond simply attaching an M203 to an M16. An example is the XM29 OICW, which integrated a 5.56 rifle with a high-velocity 20mm grenade launcher. While several countries, including Russia, have produced such combinations, none have achieved widespread success.

The Crossfire Mk1 was a commercial product aimed at the tactical market, combining a 5.56 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, both operating with pump actions. However, the Mk1 was a significant failure and was generally considered unreliable. In the modern era, there appears to be little demand for tactical combination guns.

Handguns As Combination Guns

Combination handguns are among the rarest types of these firearms. The utility of a handgun that fires two different calibers is limited, with only a few notable examples. One such example is the LeMat revolver, which uniquely combined a handgun with a 20-gauge shotgun barrel. Despite its rarity, its distinctive design has cemented its place in gun culture.

Perhaps the most effective and interesting combination handgun was the Marble Game Getter. Legally defined as a rifle in some U.S. states but commonly understood as a stocked pistol, the Marble Game Getter was chambered in .22LR and .410 cartridge, with a .22LR and .44 Shotshell variant also available. The National Firearms Act (NFA) effectively ended the production of the pistol variants, though larger, unstocked models continued to be made.

The Life and Death of Combination Guns

Combination guns are much less common today. Only a few models, such as the Savage Model 42, TPS Arms M6, and Chiappa Double Badger, readily come to mind. Drillings and cape guns are no longer the exclusive tools of aristocrats on safari. It’s a fascinating genre, and a .223 Rem and 12-gauge or even 20-gauge combo would be an appealing hunting option.

However, the demand for such firearms remains low, making it unlikely that new models will become widely available.

Part Knife, Part Axe, All Awesome – CRKT’s Razel Nax

By
Jim Cobb
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CRKT Razel Nax
Photo credit: CRKT.

I don’t typically gravitate toward unusual bladed tools. I’m sort of a traditionalist in that sense, I suppose. But from the moment I saw the Razel Nax from CRKT, I was dying to check it out. Honestly, it was giving me serious Mad Max vibes. It looked like something an enterprising bladesmith cobbled together from bits and pieces they had sitting around in their shop. And I mean that in the very best way possible. It’s different, it’s unique, and as it turns out, it’s actually quite useful.

The Razel Nax: A Functional Multi-Tool

The CRKT Razel Nax is billed as a combination of a knife and an axe, though hatchet is probably more accurate. There’s also more than a little bit of pry bar DNA present.

CRKT Razel Nax beauty shot
Photo credit: CRKT.

Often, a tool that is designed to handle multiple jobs isn’t great at any of them. There are inevitable compromises, due to size, weight, and/or functionality. The end result is often something that might work in a pinch, but the whole time, you’ll be wishing you had the real version of the tool you’re using.

With the Razel Nax, you’ll be able to do far more work than you might think. The tip is sharpened, but not quite to a razor’s edge. That’s just fine, as it works great to scrape tinder from a branch. This slim edge at the tip also allows it to slip behind materials that need to be pried apart. The tool is nearly 11 inches long, which gives great leverage as you pull on the handle.

The handle is also shaped such that you can choke up on it for precision work, or slide your hand back for chopping. The blade has just enough belly for slicing, while the spine has a flat spot right where your thumb rests to help with control. The spine there is also just sharp enough to scrape sparks from a ferrocerium rod, which is always a bonus.

CRKT Razel Nax slicing fruit
The Razel Nax will handle some food prep chores in camp. Photo credit: CRKT.

The Razel Nax will handle chopping, prying, slicing, scraping, and more.

The Specs

The Razel Nax is crafted from 1075 carbon steel with canvas Micarta handle scales. It has an overall length of 11 inches. The blade is 4.29 inches long and 0.20 inches thick at the spine.

It weighs 11.30 ounces, so it’s no lightweight. This gives the tool plenty of heft for when you’re chopping. At the same time, it doesn’t feel like you’re adding a pile of bricks to your pack. Put another way, there’s enough weight to get the job done without weighing you down.

CRKT Razel Nax chopping
The Razel™ Nax will handle some chopping duties as well as scraping. Photo credit: CRKT.

The Razel Nax comes with a Kydex sheath. It holds the blade securely, with no wiggle or wobble. There’s a leather snap that provides additional retention. It can also be used to hang the sheath from your belt. But I’ll be honest, that seemed really awkward, so I didn’t bother with it. For my purposes, this is a tool that lives in my pack, not on my belt.

The Razel Nax isn’t brand new to the market. It’s been around for several years at this point. But from where I’m sitting, it’s sort of flown under the radar, and that’s a shame. It’s a great tool with a lot of practical uses.

BCO Pouches and Satchels

By
Reuben Bolieu
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Badger Claw Outfitters (BCO) is committed to manufacturing durable American-made products guaranteed for life. I’ve seen BCO Pouches and Satchels in action in the Adirondacks during a 5-day camping, fishing trip. I’m now a fan!

Badger Claw Outfitters (BCO) Pouches and Satchels

Badger Claw Outfitters knows how to craft rugged leather and canvas gear for those who prefer real-world adventures over Instagram photo ops. Since 2011, they’ve been handcrafting everything from belts and bags to rifle slings and EDC pouches. They balance timeless style with top-notch performance. BCO crafts each piece to order right in their caffeine-fueled workshop. They ditch the conveyor belts for genuine craftsmanship, ensuring the quality of their products.

These individuals prioritize the great outdoors over flashy trends. Although they prefer to keep their team under wraps, what can you count on? Gear that’s not just built to last a lifetime but is also ready to embrace all the trail dust and campfire smoke you can throw at it. It’s backed by a lifetime guarantee.

BCO services over 30 makers and companies on the wholesale end, particularly focusing on high-quality pouches and satchels!

BCO No. 2 Belt Pouch

This robust pouch isn’t your average pouch—it’s the workhorse your belt’s been missing. Sized just right at 6″ x 4.5″ x 2″, the No.2 Belt Pouch hauls your daily essentials without acting like a diva. It’s built with dual #8 zipper pulls, sturdy 2″ belt loops, and one internal pocket to keep your gear sorted, not stirred.

The BCO No. 2 Belt Pouch Sized just right at 6″ x 4.5″ x 2″, the No.2 Belt Pouch hauls your daily essentials without acting like a diva.

Want options? Add the adjustable 1.5″ waist strap for hip or crossbody carry. You can toss in a personal first aid kit or fire it up with their Backcountry Fire Kit add-on. From first aid to fire-starting, this pouch doesn’t just carry gear—it carries purpose. Clip a knife to the bottom, especially if it has a BCO sheath! 

If Nessmuk were still around, he’d approve of this as a possible pouch. Naturally, we’d carry different things in it today. However, not too much different. BCO must have done their research when it comes to BCO Pouches and Satchels!

This pouch isn’t just a gear carrier; it’s a purpose-packed powerhouse! Clip a knife to the bottom—bonus points if it’s got a BCO sheath!

BCO Scout EDC Pouch

Meet the trusty sidekick, your daily essentials didn’t know they needed. The Scout EDC Pouch consolidates your gear into a compact, trail-ready package. Built from battle-tested 1000D Cordura and locked down with a #8 YKK zipper, it’s tough enough to survive your truck, your camp, and whatever chaos you call Tuesday.

Measuring in at a pocket-friendly 7″ x 5″ x 1″, it features three rear stash slots for pens, knives, flashlights, or that notebook you swear you’ll fill someday. Grimloc clip included, because BCO knows you’ve got lanyards—and questionable attachment methods.

Toss a power bank, field notes journal, pens, flashcards, or lipstick in it and get out there! 

The Scout EDC and Admin Pouches are ready for odds and ends and remain highly versatile for any adventure!

BCO Admin Pouch

When your pockets start playing Tetris with pens, flashlights, and that elusive notepad, the Admin Pouch steps in. It’s like a seasoned field sergeant who puts them all in line!

This 9.5″ x 7.5″ utility champ features a roomy main zippered compartment. It also has four outer sleeves: two narrow slots for pens, chem sticks, and gear you’d rather not lose. It includes two wider pockets ready to house phones, passports, mini notebooks, or BCO’s own Clipper and Sidekick pouches. Top-mounted nylon webbing loops make it easy to clip inside a pack or bag, keeping your tools upright and your sanity intact.

Overland Satchel

Here’s a rugged minimalist’s dream. The Overland Satchel (haversack) carries light but thinks heavy. Built from 1000D Cordura and padded where it counts, this 12″ x 10″ x 4″ pack is compact. It’s enough for overhead bins and trail scrambles—yet bold enough to ride shotgun through coffee shops and campgrounds alike. The exterior zipper pocket offers quick-draw access to maps, tickets, or that snack you swore you’d save. Inside, an open divider keeps your essentials sorted, while a loop Velcro panel invites modular mischief with other BCO pouches.

The Overland Satchel is light on weight but heavy on toughness. Crafted from 1000D Cordura and padded in all the right spots, this compact 12″ x 10″ x 4″ bag is perfect for stowing in overhead bins or tackling trails. Travel smart, travel stylish!

Add nylon tabs for gear expansion and a structured back panel for all-day carry comfort. In the end, you’ve got more than a satchel—you’ve got a mobile HQ, especially when you pack your BCO Pouches and Satchels.

Conclusion

These American-made soft goods are perfect for city and wilderness outings. If you’re hunting, canoeing, fishing, or exploring the woods, check out Badger Claw Outfitters and their renowned BCO Pouches and Satchels. You won’t regret it!

Points of Egress – Know Where You’re Going to Go

By
Jim Cobb
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Points of egress

Many of us are in the habit of putting our backs to the wall when we sit in a restaurant or similar establishment. We do this so we can keep an eye out for problems that may arise. But that’s only part of the situational awareness equation. The other half is determining multiple points of egress.

Identifying Points of Egress

Any time you enter a business, ask yourself, Where can I go if I need to escape? Quite often, there are multiple answers to that question. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of identifying at least two points of egress everywhere you go. This isn’t difficult, and over time, it’ll become second nature.

Herd Mentality

As we’ve seen from countless real-life emergencies, such as fires in nightclubs or active shooter situations, people will typically head for the door through which they entered. This usually causes a bottleneck, as only one or two people can exit at a time. It’s made even worse when people are pushing and shoving in a panic.

By identifying alternate points of egress, you’ll hopefully avoid getting caught up in that.

Emergency Exits

Points of egress - emergency exit

Just about every business has emergency exits. They’re supposed to be clearly marked, such as with signs on the ceiling pointing the way. The doors are usually alarmed and will sound when opened. As a practical matter, that’s very dependent upon how recently they were tested. Most such alarms are battery-operated, and if the battery is dead, so is the alarm. But either way, the doors should open when you push on the handle.

The downside is that these will be the second-most popular points of egress. As such, they could still be problematic in a dense crowd.

Think Outside the Box

In just about any business, there are other points of egress that may not be obvious to the casual observer. Most restaurants will have a back door in the kitchen. This is where they get deliveries and where they take out the trash. Employees will know it well. Customers, probably not so much.

Points of egress - restaurant kitchen
Just about every restaurant kitchen has a back entrance for deliveries and such.

The same thing applies to retailers. Most of them will have some sort of back room for storage, along with a door for deliveries and whatnot.

In a pinch, a window can be a point of egress as well. Provided, of course, that it’s close enough to the ground for you to safely escape through it. Bear in mind, if you toss a chair or something through a window, all that glass isn’t going to just disappear. You’ll have to navigate over or around it.

Outdoor Venues

The same advice holds true if you’re attending some sort of outdoor function, such as a concert. Identify at least a couple of points of egress and decide how best to reach them. Odds are pretty good that at least one exit can be found backstage, if you’re close enough to get to it quickly.

Points of egress - concert
If you’re at a concert or other big event, where will you go in an emergency?

The takeaway here is simple. If a crisis occurs, expect the main exit to be blocked and know what your alternate points of egress will be, just in case.

Motorized Bandits and The Evolution of Police

By
Travis Pike
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Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are seen in an undated photo. The couple captured headlines with a long crime spree before being shot to death in an ambush in Louisiana.

The era of the motorized bandit in the United States is one full of romanticism. Bonnie and Clyde were star-crossed lovers armed with machine guns. Dillinger was a handsome rebel, not too different from Peter Pan. Legend had it these motorized bank robbers would burn mortgage information at banks, freeing farms from the hands of foreclosure-seeking bankers during the Great Depression.

The Era of the Motorized Bandit

In reality, it’s like most things that have been romanticized: it’s largely a lie. Tall tales hid the truth of murderous outlaws who would murder on the drop of a hat for a bag full of cash. Desperate times made desperate people, and the Great Depression was a desperate time. The motorized bandit created a fascinating challenge for police of the era, and their response shifted police work forward by leaps and bounds.

Weaponry

This is Guns, Ammo, and Tactics, so let’s talk guns. Police forces of the era likely carried a .38 Special, but also the .32 S&W Long and .32 Colt New Police. These are all fine calibers, especially these days, but in the 1930s, we didn’t have the projectile design knowledge or techniques to get the most out of these rounds. They could stop a bad guy, but they weren’t stellar.

They really struggled when it came to piercing through the vehicle skin of modern Ford V8s. Neither could .45 ACP. They couldn’t stop the motorized bandit if they couldn’t stop the motor, or at least shoot the guy driving it. This led to police forces and the firearms industry adopting new calibers to punch through these cars.

This gave us .357 Magnum for revolvers and .38 Super for M1911s. Plenty of motorized bandits carried automatic weapons and outgunned police with revolvers and shotguns. Police adapted to the demand and adopted their own automatic weapons, including Thompsons, BARs, and even Remington Model 8s. These offered faster rates of fire, better range, and the ability to punch through vehicles.

Motorization

Plenty of police forces had vehicles in this era, but they lacked modern vehicles and often had very few of them. The world was a lot smaller back then, and for plenty of small towns and counties, horses were enough, even in the 1930s. When a motorized bandit rolled into town, it became tough to chase down a V8 on a horse or in an old vehicle.

Cleveland Police Historical Society

This led to police forces finding the money to purchase new vehicles: faster vehicles, and more of them. This gave us the modern patrol car that we know today. It also helped develop or modernize the Highway Patrols throughout the various states. The FBI even ended up giving Thompsons and 100-round drums to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Communication

Chasing a motorized bandit could be difficult. Multiple police forces chasing multiple bad guys called for a new and reinforced need for better communication. This led to the adoption of two-way radios to replace one-way radios. Most police cars could receive, but could not transmit. The newer radios allowed for better communication between police cars and forces.

Outside of simple radio use, chasing motorized bandits called for better cooperation between individual police forces. County and state lines were often barriers to chases and a great way for a motorized bandit to get away. This led to state and interstate cooperative agreements between police forces.

This also led to Federal police forces, namely the FBI, which rose to prominence during this era.

New Tactics

Police tactics also changed rapidly. No longer were they just chasing down robbers and trying to arrest them or shoot it out. That proved unproductive, difficult, and dangerous. Instead, police forces began mixing intelligence gathering, cooperation, and ambush tactics to stop motorized bandits.

Police forces would share information with each other and the FBI; they’d get profiles, names, pictures, and more. This allowed them to question associates, friends, and family members of the average motorized bandit. They could then set a trap or attempt to predict where the bandits would pass through.

This was used to target Bonnie and Clyde and to hunt down men like Dillinger.

Computers (Kind Of)

Okay, they weren’t exactly computers, but IBM’s electromechanical tabulating machines were used by police forces, namely larger agencies, like the FBI. These machines were used for keeping records and accessing those records quickly and efficiently. These machines allowed police forces to process and analyze large datasets, which laid the groundwork for the data analysis we do now.

The Motorized Bandit – The End

New tactics, weapons, and technology helped shut down the motorized bandit. The lasting effects of these efforts led to a lot of police efforts we see now. It’s fascinating how one type of criminal helped shape American law enforcement.

Concealed Carry Bags Offer Rapid-Access in a Discreet and Fashionable Package

By
Michael D'Angona
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Statistically speaking, women have a greater chance of being attacked than men. Because of this, they need personal protection by their side. This can be easily achieved with convenient and discreet concealed carry purses and packs, or totes that travel with them wherever they may go.

These handgun holders allow the woman to go about her day without prying eyes knowing she’s concealing her just-in-case weapon. From full leather shoulder bags to waist pouches, sling bags, and oversized carry-alls, the variety is vast, and some incredible selections are featured below.

8 Concealed Carry Purses and Packs

Lady Conceal Concealed-Carry Dakota Leather Sling Bag

This sling bag offers discreet concealed weapon carry and plenty of space for a whole lot more. This full-grain leather sling has one spacious front compartment, two open slip pockets, and a perfect slip pocket to house your cellphone. Its best feature is its ambidextrous back pocket for your large-framed handgun. It includes a universal holster and a fast-draw magnetic closure system. Available in black, cognac, or dark brown, the Dakota is ready to go with you on your next urban adventure.

Specifications

  • Soft, supple full-grain leather
  • Sleek, unisex design
  • Open slip pocket with magnetic snap closure
  • Gunmetal tone hardware
  • Includes dust bag

MSRP: $149.95

For more information, please visit LadyConceal.com.

Lady Conceal Natasha Leather Crossbody Purse

Great things come in small packages, and the Natasha Crossbody Purse exemplifies this perfectly. This compact unit offers RFID-protection, an integrated organizer for credit card-sized gear, and a divided main pocket that holds personal items and your concealed carry weapon (small-frame handgun).

Moreover, the purse itself is both stylish and high quality, with full-grain leather, magnetic snap closures, two adjustable crossbody straps, and a removable wrist strap for versatile carry options. Choose from olive, mahogany, black, and mustard colors.

Specifications

  • Discreet concealment sleeve
  • Ambidextrous design
  • YKK locking zippers
  • Full-grain leather body
  • Includes universal medium holster

MSRP: $154.95

For more information, please visit LadyConceal.com.

Lady Conceal Faith Leather Crossbody Purse

This bag is both beautiful and highly practical. It offers an aesthetically pleasing design with crafted premium leather that only develops finer over time. Its stitching is high quality, with a decorative tassel integrated as a convenient zipper pull. Underneath this bag’s beauty is its true calling, as a fully functional concealed carry bag. It can accommodate a large handgun and comes complete with a universal medium-sized holster. Choose from dark mahogany, black, or cognac colors.

Specifications

  • Distressed, full-grain leather material
  • Attractive front pocket with tassel
  • Center purse concealment location
  • Gunmetal hardware
  • Intricate leather stitching

MSRP: $156.95

For more information, please visit LadyConceal.com.

Lady Conceal Kailey Leather Purse Pack

Both decorative and useful, the Kailey offers the perfect balance between style and function, and it excels at both. Its genuine leather body is accentuated with intricate cross stitching and Old World craftsmanship. The Kaily has an interior organizer, an open slip pocket, a side zippered pocket, and its discreet internal concealed weapon compartment. Furthermore, its versatile design allows both waist and sling-carry options, while its universal look and feel go with just about any clothing ensemble. Choose from seven exciting colors.

Specifications

  • 100% Premium leather material
  • RFID-protected organizer
  • Adjustable waistband
  • Accommodate a small-frame handgun
  • Includes universal medium holster

MSRP: $104.95

For more information, please visit LadyConceal.com.

Jesse James Handbags Sierra Backpack Purse

This backpack purse offers plenty of storage room, an easy-to-maintain outer shell, and a discreet zippered pocket to hold your firearm. And we are just getting started. With six pockets of varying sizes, you’ll have plenty of room for personal items, work needs, and any added extras. It also offers a protective laptop-sized mesh pocket for business or school needs.

On the tactical side, the concealed carry compartment features a Velcro strap holder, matching removable holster, and ambidextrous accessibility. The Sierra Backpack comes in black, mauve, tan, brown, and taupe colors.     

Specifications

  • Easy-to-maintain, faux leather
  • Easy-access, lockable CCW pocket
  • Antique brass hardware
  • Protective metal “feet”
  • Includes matching removable holster

MSRP: $79.99

For more information, please visit JessieJamesHandBags.com.

Jesse James Handbags Cheyanne Crossbody Bag

Few people would guess that this stylish purse hides a remarkable secret compartment for your CCW. Designed with easy-to-maintain faux leather, you’ll enjoy a go-anywhere purse with the peace of mind that your handgun is always nearby. The Cheyanne bag features a lock and key weapon storage unit, a removable holster, magnetic flap closure, and a fully adjustable shoulder strap. Gold hardware and printed interior lining round out this bag’s modern style.

Specifications

  • Faux leather design
  • Lock and key feature for safety
  • Easy-access, one-zipper opening
  • Includes removable holster
  • Magnetic flap closure

MSRP: $59.99

For more information, please visit JessieJamesHandBags.com.

Zendira Active Friday Concealed Carry Belt Bag

At first glance, this pack may not look like much, but when you peel away its layers, you have something special. The Active Friday pack features a cut-resistant strap, an included trigger guard clip, a zinc alloy quick release buckle, and a rugged nylon outer shell. The unit is ultra-customizable with color, size, draw-hand, and handgun-specific specs, all determined by you. Don’t be a victim, and the discreet Active Friday can make that happen.

Specifications

  • Customization available
  • Includes trigger guard
  • Ultra-durable nylon material
  • Quick release buckle
  • Cut-resistant strap for security

MSRP: $149.00

For more information, please visit Zendira.com.

Hiding Hilda Beth Crossbody Tote

You don’t have to sacrifice your personal safety if you’re at the beach or park. That is, if you have this concealed carry Hilda Beth Tote. Its innocent-looking design masks its inner compartment that houses your handgun. The tote features two outer pockets, two inner pockets, an inside zippered pocket, and two pencil holders. Additionally, its claim-to-fame is its zippered concealment compartment on the back with both right- and left-hand accessibility. Style, usefulness, and extreme practicality collide with the Hilda Beth Crossbody Tote.

Specifications

  • Machine washable
  • Stain and water resistant
  • 60-inch Crossbody strap
  • CCW 12 by 7 pocket
  • Proudly made in the USA

MSRP: $124.00

For more information, please visit HidingHilda.com.

Handling the Mob – Dealing with Potentially Violent Crowds

By
Jim Cobb
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Violent crowds

Whether they begin as peaceful demonstrations or not, violent crowds can be truly terrifying in their power. Mob mentality is a very real thing. Aggression spreads like wildfire in a crowd, especially when the people are already amped up about something. It doesn’t take much to spark violence, and once it starts, it doesn’t stop easily.

Dealing with Violent Crowds

Situational awareness is important and cannot be overemphasized. Keep your head up and your eyes open. If the hairs on the back of your neck start to stand up, get out of there.

Avoidance is Key

The first step in dealing with violent crowds is avoiding them whenever possible. I know that sounds incredibly simplistic, but it’s an important point. Think about how often people will hear about a nearby car crash, house fire, or something similar and be compelled to go check it out. The same holds true for big protests and such.

Violent crowds - avoidance
Avoid protests and similar situations if at all possible. Don’t seek them out, either to gawk or to antagonize.

If you hear about something happening in your area, make a point of avoiding it entirely. Wait for the videos to hit YouTube if you’re that curious. The easiest battle to win is the one that never happens. You can’t get hurt if you aren’t there.

Where to Go

If, despite your best efforts, you find yourself caught up in a bad situation with a potentially violent crowd, there are a few things you can do. If it’s a large crowd and you’re with other people, lock arms so you don’t lose anyone. Move across the crowd, perpendicular to the direction the crowd is going.

What you’re trying to do is get out from the middle and find your way to the sideline. Moving entirely against the grain is a losing proposition. But you can shift your way across instead. Avoid getting between the crowd and a fence or barricade. Doing so could lead to you getting trapped, maybe even crushed.

Once you get free of the crowd, beat feet and get out of the area as quickly as is feasible. Use side streets and alleys to flee if needed. The important thing is to get as far from the violence as possible. Once you’re safe and everyone in your group is accounted for, get your bearings and make your way to your actual destination.

By the way, when you’re in the middle of the crowd, it’s not the time to debate anyone about the points they’re trying to make. That may not end well for you and, let’s face it, you’re not likely to change anyone’s mind at that particular stage of the game. Discretion is the better part of valor, as they say.

Law Enforcement Response

Violent crowds - police response
If law enforcement sees you as a threat, they will respond in kind. Approach them with abundant caution and in a non-threatening way.

If law enforcement is present, do not go running up to them. That makes you look like a threat, and they will likely respond in a less-than-ideal way. You might just find out what pepper spray smells and tastes like, which is no fun. Keep in mind that while you know you’re not involved with the violent crowd, they don’t know who you are or why you’re there.

If you want to get their help, approach with both of your hands up and empty and speak as calmly as possible. Rambling and yelling aren’t going to help the situation in the least.

Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner

By
Reuben Bolieu
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The Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner is a capable woods knife designed for skinning, boasting several hidden qualities.

Skinning knives can often be a one-trick pony. However, they’re supposed to excel at one thing and do it well. The Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner is a skinner and beyond!

Sasquatch Who?

Laramy “Sasquatch” Miller lives like he stepped out of a frontier legend. Raised in southern Colorado, he learned old-school wilderness skills from his uncles, Dirk and Colt Ross, early hunting filmmakers who tragically died in a plane crash. Miller carried on their legacy by guiding and creating shows like Sasquatch Mountain Man, where he lives off the land using handmade bows, traditional rifles, and buckskin gear, much like he might with a Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner.

At 6’7″, 270 pounds, his nickname fits his rugged style. He once lost 37 pounds while filming a season, enduring harsh conditions to live authentically, just like the mountain men he admires. A gun accident even led doctors to discover his ruptured appendix—luck saved him twice.

Despite the wild-man image, he’s a devoted family man with deep roots in his grandfather’s values. Miller doesn’t just reenact history—he immerses himself in it.

Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner

Meet the Laramy Miller Sasquatch Skinner—a no-nonsense fixed blade that’s ready to tackle any challenge in the wild. At a solid 8.75 inches long, with a 3.94-inch blade. It’s the perfect blend of reach and control, whether you’re skinning game or handling camp duties.

Crafted from tough 1095 carbon steel and wrapped in a stealthy dark Caswell™ coating, this blade not only keeps its edge sharp but also fights off rust like a champ. The handle, made from smooth Micarta®, provides a secure, scratch-resistant grip that feels good even after hours of hard work. With its full-tang design, this knife boasts exceptional durability, while the ergonomic shape ensures your hand stays firmly in place, regardless of the task at hand. Truly a Case Knives masterpiece.

Meet the Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner. This tough yet lightweight knife isn’t just for skinning; it’s packed with clever features to tackle any adventure!

And let’s not forget the stylish leather sheath that comes with it, offering classic protection and handy belt carry. Proudly made in Bradford, PA, Case Knives designed this one for performance, built to endure for the long haul!

In The Woods with Sasquatch 

Using the Laramy Miller Sasquatch Skinner feels less like wielding a knife and more like gearing up for an adventure in survival mode. The first thing I did with this rugged beauty? I roasted marshmallows—just kidding! I set about making a fire. After all, it’s not hunting season around here; it’s skeeter season! A little smoke in the humid air is the best mosquito repellent I know (desperate times call for desperate measures). 

With a dry birch stick in hand, I grabbed the Case Sasquatch Skinner and got to feathering. Oh boy, this blade’s edge geometry blew me away! I whipped up some curls that were so fine they practically begged for a spark. And boy did they get it! My trusty Uberleben Ferro and the edge of the Sasquatch knife made them burst into flames faster than you can say “bonfire.” Who knew that hidden gem of a 90-degree angle would turn out to be an MVP?

Splitting damp wood for a successful fire was a breeze for the Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner.

Next, I challenged the Sasquatch to tackle some poplar and maple. A little batoning action, and I felt zero hesitation—it sliced through like a hot knife through butter, and hey, with its carbon steel, durability is a given! Although I did notice that the handle felt a tad skinny for some of the detailed crafts I had in mind. But then again, maybe that’s the trade-off for being labeled a Skinner instead of a full-on survival knife.

Either way, this little beast is up for the challenge!

Conclusion of the Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner

The Case Sasquatch Skinner performed as expected, a well-rounded woods knife that can skin and make fire like a legend. Just like its namesake, the Case Knives Sasquatch Skinner is also an elusive legend!

MSRP: $196.99

Calico Light Weapon Systems – A Future Unfounded

By
Travis Pike
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I’ve been playing a game called Ready or Not, which is a realistic, intense game that has you playing as a SWAT officer in a violent major metropolitan city. You have to arrest bad guys, and often secure their firearms as evidence. In this major metropolitan city, one of the favorite guns of the bad guys appears to be a Calico M950. I found it odd, but interesting, that the developers would use such an obscure firearm for the game.

History of Calico

The M950 surprised me. I expected it to be a crapshoot but found it to be a reliable, fun to shoot, and fairly decent little gun with an interesting magazine. While I owned the gun, I didn’t know a whole lot about the company and decided it’s a great time to look into Calico Light Weapon Systems.

Calico stands, or stood, for California Instrument Company, and in the early 1980s, they produced products designed for the petroleum industry. The company made a big shift by diving into firearms.

The First Calicos

Calico’s first gun was a .22LR rimfire semi-auto carbine with a 50 or 100-round helical drum. The helical drum would become the lifeblood of Calico and would be what the entire series of firearms would be built around. The .22LR Calico had enough success to fund Calico’s ventures into centerfire guns. Calico’s goal was to get their guns into the hands of soldiers and police officers ultimately.

This led to the creation of several 9mm variants of the Calico. Even in the 1980s, California was becoming a terrible place for gun rights. Calico’s Bakersfield factory found some resistance from a local politician, but was able to stay in Bakersfield. My Calico M950 is a Bakersfield original. The Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 banned the gun for sale in California, but they would remain in production in the state.

In June of 1989, they introduced the M950 pistol and the M951 rifle. Both were 9mm platforms, the pistol featuring a six-inch barrel and the carbine featuring a 16-inch option. In 1991, they introduced the select-fire variants, the Calico submachine guns in eight different configurations. Configurations varied by barrel length, stock type, presence of a forward grip, and more. The SMGs went by the M960 moniker.

Inside the Calico Guns

The helical magazine design was the core of the weapon. It’s a double-stack helical magazine that is fit to the top of the gun. Cliff Davis, the number two man at Calico in the late 80s, was the designer of the magazine. The magazines allowed you to carry 50 or 100 rounds without a big, jutting magazine sticking out the bottom of the gun.

These magazines were surprisingly compact. The 50-round magazine was only about seven inches long, and the 100-round magazine was a hair more than 12 inches long. The magazines had a rotational lever that allowed you to tension the magazine. A clutch button allowed you to relieve that tension.

Due to the top-mounted design, the magazines held your rear sight. Most Calico magazines had a dual sight system that allowed you to use either a peep or open sight. My example only has a pistol-style open sight.

Beyond the magazine, there were a number of innovative features implemented into the Calico guns. They were an early adopter of polymer, the frame being mostly polymer. These guns were also roller-delayed blowback guns, much like an MP5, which makes them tame and easy to control.

The gun had numerous ambidextrous features. The safety is ambidextrous, the magazine release requires a pinch method and is ambidextrous, and the gun ejects from the bottom. The charging handle was locked to the left side of the gun, making it more friendly for right-handed shooters. It’s worth mentioning that Calico, as a company, put a lot of effort behind these guns.

Beyond the Gun

Calico produced a ton of accessories for their guns. I would argue they were extremely progressive as a company. They introduced stuff like bipods and a speed loader for the gun, which wasn’t fancy but nice. Where they went a little wild was the presence of optics mounts, lights, and lasers.

They produced a factory brass catcher and even a shoulder rig for the M950 pistol that held the gun and a spare magazine. There was also a leg rig for these things, which is totally nuts, but also awesome. Calico even offered an armorer’s course to learn to care for your Light Weapon System.

In an old Gun Digest article, the original CEO of the company, Mike Miller, stated some widespread adoption of the gun. He claimed there were sales to Special Forces Units, DOD Security Forces, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Diplomatic Security Service, and numerous SWAT teams. He also claimed SEALs and the DEA were testing the gun. Overseas sales included Jordan, Egypt, Ecuador, Israel, Taiwan, Peru, Macao, France, and the Colombian National Police.

It’s not easy to verify these claims. I can’t find any photos of any police unit or military unit using the Calico. It’s possible they sold some to these agencies for testing, but it seems like a highly noticeable gun, and there would be records of its use.

The Future of Calico

In 1994, the Assault Weapons Ban came to be and effectively killed the Calico Light Weapon System firearms. No one wanted a 10-round helical drum magazine firearm. The company didn’t have the government sales to sustain it. Efforts to produce a .40 S&W, a .45 ACP, and .223 Remington variant were ended.

The company moved to Sparks, Nevada, in 1998, but it appears they only produced replacement parts for their guns. There isn’t a lot of information about the company between 1998 and 2006. By 2006, the Assault Weapons Ban had expired, and the company was sold and moved to Hillsboro, Oregon. The new owners redesigned some of the guns and added modern features.

James Bond Approved

This includes rails, better optics mounts, and more. These were called the Liberty models. They showed a 12-gauge model at SHOT Show in 2012, but it never went into production. The website is still up, but I don’t know if the company is still operating. They don’t take credit cards, and you have to mail them a check. The site might just be a ghost ship still out to sail.

(I really want that shoulder rig though!)

For all intents and purposes, it seems like Calico is out of business. You can’t find their rifles or pistols for sale outside of the used section. They were an interesting weapon system and one that worked surprisingly well. I typically expect novelty style designs to have reliability issues, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. My 950 works well and is a ton of fun.

Honestly, it seems like a great KelTec expansion!

Get in Shape – Physical Fitness and Emergency Preparedness

By
Jim Cobb
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Physical fitness

Perhaps one of the most overlooked areas of emergency preparedness is health and physical fitness. This discussion is prompted by a recent experience that was both eye-opening as well as embarrassing.

Increase Your Odds Through Physical Fitness

My wife and I recently returned from a camping trip that involved a fair bit of hiking each day. We were car camping, then driving out to nearby parks and such for the most part. One of the first hikes we did was only a few miles, but involved nearly 600 feet of elevation change at the beginning and end. I really struggled with this, far more than I thought I might. The hot and muggy weather wasn’t helping, either. My wife later told me that she genuinely feared I was going to have a heart attack.

It took me a couple of days to recover from that hike, as my thighs and knees were incredibly sore. We did more hiking just about every day of our trip, and many portions of it were difficult for me, far more than they should have been.

My physical fitness has declined in the last few years, due to some health issues as well as complacency and outright laziness if I’m being honest. That needs to change. What good is learning all of these preparedness skills and investing in whiz-bang awesome gear if I stroke out during a simple hike?

The healthier you are, the better able you’ll be to handle stressful situations. And you can’t buy your way to physical fitness. It takes hard work and dedication. While there are many aspects involved with getting into shape, let’s focus in on just a few simple things you can do at home without spending a dime.

Stretching

Physical fitness - stretching

We all tend to lose some of our flexibility as we age. But that doesn’t mean we need to just shrug and accept it. A big part of physical fitness is being able to withstand injuries. Stretching every day will go a long way in that regard. I put balance exercises into this same category, as there’s a lot of overlap between the two.

Warm up a bit before you stretch. Maybe walk around the house for 5-7 minutes, that sort of thing. You just want to limber up a bit. Breathe through each stretch and hold them for about 30 seconds.

Here are some stretches to incorporate into your routine.

Planking

Physical fitness - planking

Planking is a deceptively simple exercise that’s great for overall physical fitness. It looks easy. All you do is get down on the floor and roll onto your belly. Then, raise yourself up on your elbows and toes and stay there. How hard is that?

Yeah, it’s hard. If you’re out of shape, you might struggle after just 10-15 seconds. But work your way up to 30 seconds, and eventually a full minute. Planking strengthens your core and helps with overall balance and coordination.

There are several position variations for planks. You can extend your arms and rest on your hands, like you’re about to do a push-up. There are side planks, one-legged planks, and more. Start simple and develop a good foundation first, then start exploring some of these other options.

Walking

Physical fitness - walking

Simply walking every day is an excellent way to improve physical fitness. It helps with weight loss, as well as heart health. Plus, it gets you outdoors. Fresh air and sunshine are rarely bad things for you.

When you’re walking, keep your head up and eyes forward. Don’t stare at your phone. Look at the world around you. Maintain good situational awareness. Your back should be straight. Pump your arms a bit if you’d like.

If the weather is particularly nasty, you can just stay home and walk from room to room. When I was recovering from surgery a couple of years ago, I basically did laps through the house each day. The boredom is lessened by playing music or an audiobook. The point is to find a way to do the work every day, rather than find excuses not to do it.

It’s important to work within whatever health limitations you may have, while also striving to improve your fitness. Meaning, don’t overdo it and put yourself at risk for injury, but at the same time work toward improving your physical fitness and possibly reducing or even eliminating some of those limitations.

Chiappa Adds 10mm Revolvers

By
Tim Stetzer
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If you’re a 10mm fan, Chiappa recently added a couple of unexpected options that you might be interested in. The unique Chiappa 30DS and 60DS Rhino revolvers are now available in 10mm auto.

The Chiappa Rhino

Chiappa Rhinos are unique in that they fire from the lowest chamber of the cylinder, rather than the top, like most revolvers. This keeps the bore access low and reduces felt recoil. It also makes for a rather distinctive appearance. When you see a Rhino, you really can’t mistake it for anything else. Unless maybe it’s the Mateba, which was an earlier design from the Rhino’s Italian creator, Antonio Cudazzo.

The Rhinos are made in Italy and feature aluminum CNC-manufactured frames and steel CNC-manufactured barrel, cylinder, and other parts. Even the cylinder on the Rhino is different, being hexagonal in shape. Capacity on the new models is 6 rounds, pretty standard revolver fare. Sights are adjustable with green fiber optic inserts.

The Rhino is a double/single-action revolver, but even that has an eccentric touch to it. While it looks like the Rhino has a typical exposed hammer, things aren’t what they seem. The hammer is actually internal on the Rhino. What you see is just a cocking handle that cocks the internal hammer when you thumb it back. Once you cock it, the linkage falls back into place.

It seems odd, but it somehow helps minimize the number of external moving parts. When you fire the gun in double action, the cocking piece does not move. There’s actually a good video from 3dGunner that shows how the mechanism works if you’re curious.

The Rhino 30DS and 60DS

The two models available in 10mm will be the 30DS and 60DS. While they share the base features I just talked about, they differ in details. The 30DS has a 3-inch barrel. It comes in a satin nickel finish and has a compact black rubber grip.

Chiappa 30DS Specs

Caliber10 MM AUTO
ActionSingle
Barrel Length3”
Capacity6 Rounds
Feed InManual
GripsBlack Rubber
Rear SightGreen Fiber Optic, Adjustable
SafetyInternal
Total Length7.5” (191 mm)
MaterialMachined 7075-T6 Alloy Frame, Steel Cylinder & Barrel
Net Weight0.68 lb
FinishingNickel
ExtractionManual
MSRP$1,405.93

The 60DS features a 6-inch barrel. It comes with a black anodized frame and blued cylinder. The 60DS also has a Picatinny rail on the top and bottom of the barrel for optics and light mounting. The bigger Rhino has a larger walnut grip.

Chiappa 60DS Specs

Caliber10 MM AUTO
ActionSingle
Barrel Length36′
Capacity6 Rounds
Feed InManual
GripsMedium Walnut
Rear SightGreen Fiber Optic, Adjustable
SafetyInternal
Total Length10.5” (266 mm)
MaterialMachined 7075-T6 Alloy Frame, Steel Cylinder & Barrel
Net Weight0.95 lb
FinishingBlack Anodized Frame, Blued Cylinder
MSRP$1,419.26

Rhino Accessories

Chiappa doesn’t list it in the details on their website, but presumably the 10mm uses moon clips, like their 9mm and .40 S&W revolvers. With it using moon clips, that means you should be able to shoot .40 S&W out of it as well, like you can with other 10mm clip-based revolvers. I have a lot of .40 ammo on hand, so that’s appealing to me.

Another neat accessory to consider is the resin grip from Neon Forest Industries. The Chiappa Rhino already has a sci-fi look to it. Plus, 10mm is a popular caliber in sci-fi and post-apocalypse settings. The Neon Forest resin grip comes in an amber color and gives off a Bladerunner vibe. The iconic PKD, or M2019 blaster, has that same style grip. If you like that vibe, you can get a Neon Forest grip for $99.99 and start looking for rogue replicants on your own.

Okay, $100 for a set of grips isn’t cheap, but like the Chiappa itself, they are unique. Considering that MSRP on the 60DS is $1,419.26, and the 30DS is $1,405.93, that seems in line with the overall pricing. Hey, it’s Italian. What do you expect? It isn’t the cheapest 10mm on the market, but it is definitely one of the most unusual ones you’ll see.

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