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The Cutting Edge: Wilson Tactical Cop Tool
Ask any cop what they use a knife for at work and you will get a variety of answers. Some will talk about how they used it to pry open a small window on a building search or some mope’s glove box during a car search. Maybe they scraped a license plate tag off to
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ASSAULT ON RUSTIC RIDGE Combatics Training
Hill fighting in Vietnam, especially for the majority of us “flatlanders,” was among the toughest terrain to trade bullets on. The enemy not only enjoys the high ground, but can be dug in and almost impervious to an array of supporting arms. Given lots of vegetation, the enemy is almost impossible to spot until you
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AGAINST ALL ODDS Primal Gear Survival Bow
The skills of our grandparents and great-grandparents are being forgotten and lost faster than they can be written down and memorialized. Many of our modern conveniences replace the need to have some of these old techniques. Yet some people are finding a way to meld old and new technologies, and these old skills and tools
SurvivalShow More
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KEEPING YOUR GRID-DOWN COOL Cooler Shock Ice Packs
During an extended power outage, options for even basic refrigeration are often severely limited. Here in the coastal southeastern U.S., the dreaded Atlantic Hurricane season terrorizes the population from early June through late November. When power goes out during this period of time, it is likely because of a tropical storm. Coincidentally, these are also
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Hurricane Irma: Lessons Learned
Preparedness is not a hobby practiced by the lunatic fringe in advance of a zombie apocalypse or biblical end times. Preparedness is a sensible lifestyle choice for anyone who wants to survive the array of natural disasters that strike the United States every year. 2017 was particularly brutal, with devastating wildfires over several Western states,
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HOMELAND SECURITY: Measures To Make Your Home Safer
For most of us, our homes are a sacred place of peace and comfort and hopefully the one setting where we can shut out the stress and madness of the outside world. Home is also where we shelter our families, make memories, and find some level of rest, tranquility and refuge. But what happens when
WeaponsShow More
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WILEY CLAPP SIGNATURE MODEL COLT COMMANDER Replacing an Heirloom
My father was a 30-year soldier, most of it serving as a paratrooper. He jumped at Normandy and Arnhem, fought at the Battle of the Bulge, earned a Distinguished Service Cross on a hill in Korea, and was an advisor in Vietnam in 1962. He earned eight Purple Hearts, a couple of Silver Stars, and
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LEVER-ACTION RIFLES Ready for Action in the 21st Century
I noticed something a little different at the SHOT Show in January. Instead of rifles made of aluminum and plastic, there was a lot of interest in guns made from blue steel and wood. Maybe folks think they have bought enough AR-type rifles in the last few decades (hint: you can never have too many)
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VERSATILE PRECISION RIFLE: LWRCI R.E.P.R. MKII
My first centerfire rifle was a Model 740 Remington Woodsmaster chambered in .308 Winchester handed down to me by my brother. I made my first successful deer hunt with it at the ripe old age of 13, using M80 ball ammo. Knowing what I know now, I would never consider using FMJ ammo on game,
Tactics & TrainingShow More
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ASSAULT ON RUSTIC RIDGE Combatics Training
Hill fighting in Vietnam, especially for the majority of us “flatlanders,” was among the toughest terrain to trade bullets on. The enemy not only enjoys the high ground, but can be dug in and almost impervious to an array of supporting arms. Given lots of vegetation, the enemy is almost impossible to spot until you
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PLATE RACK IN A BUCKET MGM Targets Steel Challenge Plate Rack
Shooting on steel targets has advantages and disadvantages. The main advantages are instant feedback (if you hear the ding, you hit the thing) and longevity. The two biggest disadvantages are the cost of steel targets and, since they are heavy, transporting them and setting them up at the range. MGM Targets, an industry leader in
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LONG GUNS: Countersniper Versus Sniper
My title for this column is purposely somewhat ambiguous. Countersniper Versus Sniper could be interpreted as sniper battling sniper, but it could also be interpreted as countersniper as differentiated from sniper. I will discuss the concept in both ways. Due to recent events, I have read quite a bit about how to counter snipers. Many
GearShow More
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The Cutting Edge: Wilson Tactical Cop Tool
Ask any cop what they use a knife for at work and you will get a variety of answers. Some will talk about how they used it to pry open a small window on a building search or some mope’s glove box during a car search. Maybe they scraped a license plate tag off to
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THE CUTTING EDGE TOPS Al Mar Mini SERE Operator
Special Forces officer LTC Nick Rowe was one of the few U.S. POWs to escape from VC/NVA captivity during the Vietnam War. Based on his experiences, he helped establish the U.S. Army SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) training program in 1981 for special operations personnel as well as air crewmen who might be captured after
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LAWFUL CARRY Comp-Tac Multi-Purpose Rigs
There are as many Kydex holsters on the market as there are stars in the sky, and they probably outsell leather scabbards by a wide margin. I love the feel and smell of top-grain leather and appreciate its beauty, but for duty, defense, and competition, it’s hard to beat Kydex gun products. Unlike leather, Kydex
More from S.W.A.T.Show More
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AGAINST ALL ODDS Primal Gear Survival Bow
The skills of our grandparents and great-grandparents are being forgotten and lost faster than they can be written down and memorialized. Many of our modern conveniences replace the need to have some of these old techniques. Yet some people are finding a way to meld old and new technologies, and these old skills and tools
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STREET SMARTS What a Pane!
While staring out an airplane window last week, I marveled at the multiple thicknesses of acrylic that protected me from the low pressure and frigid temperatures less than a paperback-book thickness away. While such idle fascination is the result of a bored mind sitting in one of those flying chicken coops we call ”air travel,”
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ENEMY AT THE GATE Gun-Ban Zealots Are Afraid of Ghosts
Advocates of making U.S. gun laws even more restrictive than they are now are becoming increasingly concerned about what they call “ghost guns”—guns not built in factories by the “gun industry,” but in basement and garage workshops by individual gun owners (or at least soon-to-be gun owners). While this has always been possible, the advent
