Category: Review

CRKT Linchpin, by Pat Cascio

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As I’ve mentioned many times before in my review articles, I’ve been packing some kind of folding knife since I was about five years old, so did most of my friends I grew up with, back in Chicago in the mid-1950s. My wife and I watched a movie a few weeks ago, called “Mr. Scout Master” and without going into the details, it was about a grumpy old gent, who decided to take on the task of being a Boy Scout Leader. At some point in the movie, this fellow actually needed to be rescued by an 8-year old, and …


Springfield Hellcat Review, by G.L.W.

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I am an amateur shooter at best and three years new to concealed carry. My goal is to give you my impressions of this newly-introduced gun and hopefully assist anyone considering one of these “micro-compact” handguns. I am in no way affiliated with Springfield Armory. After beginning our family in 2015, it was clear that the best, most responsible way for us to protect ourselves was to relocate us into the beautiful American Redoubt. You can be protected by the biggest arsenal, but in my mind, if your own local government is against you, you are at a disadvantage. Following …


Taurus G3 Pistol, by Pat Cascio

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I’ve been a fan of Taurus firearms for a lot of years. This wasn’t always the case, however, Taurus has come a long way in improving their quality. Back in Chicago, when I was the Investigation Manager for a huge detective agency, with offices all over the USA, I also was their armorer, and most of the handguns issued to security officers, were made by Taurus. I had my hands full caring for those guns, and I kept a good supply of parts on-hand, for making repairs. Today, that isn’t the case, Taurus manufactures most of their handguns in Brazil, …


Zero Tolerance 0223, by Pat Cascio

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I’m a real sucker, for a well-made, and stout knife, especially when it comes to folders. I carry two folders in my front cargo pants pockets each day. And when out hiking, I’ll carry a fixed blade knife, as a rule. However, folders get used every single day for some chores around our small homestead. I’ve written about this before, but for who might have missed it, I prefer an Everyday Carry folder, with a blade between 3.5-inches and 4- inches long, and I like a blade right around 3.75-inches long – just seems to balance better in my hand …


Hawkeye’s First Gun – Part 2, by The Novice

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) — First Impressions The safety on the MAPP FS 9mm was a little stiff at first, but became easier to manipulate with use. The grip was comfortable, unusually small for a double stack 9 mm. The grip angle is also good, so that the sights line up naturally when the handgun is raised to eye level. There was some initial creep in the single action trigger before a crisp break. The double action pull was long and hard, but since there is no decocker, I would not recommend using the gun in …


Hawkeye’s First Gun – Part 1, by The Novice

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We saw images of looting and burning everywhere. In the midst of chaos, some civic leaders promised to eliminate their police department. Other civic leaders abandoned a portion of their city to anarchists. The world seemed to be going mad. Some people paid attention. They decided they needed to take steps to protect themselves from the madness. One of these people was my friend, “Hawkeye.” He stopped by my office one day, concerned about what he was seeing in the news. He asked, “Can you help me find a gun for home defense?” I knew Hawkeye was from a family …


Compact Survival Radios, by Pat Cascio

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Today, I’m describing some of my experiences with compact survival radios: Both the good and the useless. To start, I should mention that I don’t have a landline home phone any longer – just a phone line for my Internet service. I’m fine with that, because 95% of the calls I got on my home phone were people trying to scam me or sell me something. So, I don’t miss a hone phone line. When I was 25-years old, I lived for the phone, because l was dating three girls – all named Cindy. (True!) My wife and I both …


Century Arms C308 Sporter, by Pat Cascio

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If you’ve been on the firearms scene for any length of time, you will surely know the company called Century Arms. Century used to import a lot of military surplus long guns and handguns, at quite good prices. Then, some years ago, they started making AK-47 style rifles – using a mix of used mil-surplus parts and some brand-new parts. Now, if you know anything about the AK-47 rifle, you know it is simplicity at its best. They were designed that way, so they were easy to maintain by fighters in Third World countries, who didn’t know anything about firearms. …


Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced, by Pat Cascio

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Its always fun to test 1911 handguns — at least its fun for me. I never tire of them, and I can’t begin to count how many different gun makers are producing 1911s these days, or the number of models being made. Today, we’re looking at the Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced variant. (You may recall that I already reviewed the R1 “Carry” variant, back in 2018.) As many readers may know, Remington-UMC produced a few M1911 pistols in .45 ACP during World War I, and Remington Rand–best known for its typewriters–produced an even larger quantity of M1911A1 pistols, during World …


Review: Coast FX350, HX5, and FX228 – Part 2, by The Novice

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the review) Opening the Second Box The second product box was the Coast 100 Year Anniversary Gift Box. This box was less substantial than one containing the FX350, but it was still nothing to sneeze at. A flashlight and a knife were nested in a multi-layered cardboard cutout along with a brochure outlining the 100 year history of the Coast company, along with a couple of packs of rust preventative silica gel. The flashlight is a special 100-year anniversary version of the HX5 flashlight. It is rated at 130 lumens and 3.75 hours of …


Review: Coast FX350, HX5, and FX228 – Part 1, by The Novice

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The State where I live does not allow concealed carry of a sheath knife unless you are hunting. Since even a simple thing like putting on a jacket may inadvertently “conceal” your knife, it is usually the better part of wisdom if not valor to avoid carrying a sheath knife at all unless you are involved in outdoor pursuits. Since the laws involving folding knives are much less stringent, and since knives are such handy tools, I usually carry a folder. For several decades, a Victorinox MiniChamp has been my constant companion. A couple of years ago, a friend complicated …


Craft Leather Holsters, by Pat Cascio

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There were a few instances, many years ago, when I didn’t carry a handgun in a holster. Several of those times were when I was doing some undercover work as a Private Investigator. One of those times, I carried a tiny Bauer .25 ACP pistol, strapped to my ankle – no holster. One such instance was when I worked a very strange case, where several misguided people planned on hijacking a cruise ship that was sailing from Miami, Florida. I worked closely with the FBI on this case, and to this day, more than 40 years ago, I still have …


Kershaw Launch 8, by Pat Cascio

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Growing up in Chicago, many in my neighborhood carried Italian stiletto folding knives, except they didn’t work. Oh sure, it had that button that you’d push, but it didn’t work…it was there for looks only, but those knives looked mean. Only problem was, they were pure junk, I never owned one that even had an edge on it – and odds were good if you dropped it or threw it, it would break. But still, a lot of us kids owned them. I will admit to being involved in a couple knife “incidents” that ended just as quickly as they …


Beretta 92FS Stainless, by Pat Cascio

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In 1985, the US military adopted a new handgun for our warriors, and right from the beginning, and even through today, the Beretta Model 92FS (M9/M9A1) continues to get criticism from all sides, for any number or real or imagined reasons. I won’t go into all the details, on this, you can find article after article about the Beretta 92FS on the Internet – some people simply have nothing better to do with their lives, other than to complain about things – anything – based on their wild imagination. The number one complaint was, and still is, we switched from …


S&W Model 642, by Pat Cascio

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As many long-time SurvivalBlog readers will recall, I worked for the late Col. Rex Applegate from 1990 to 1993 as his assistant. It was one of the greatest honors that I ever had. The good Colonel taught me a lot over those three years. A small trip, back in time is in order: My wife was offered a teaching position, at a very rural two-room school in a place called Ash Valley, Oregon – at one time it was a large rural community, that stretched about 14 miles down a winding road, about 25 miles outside of Reedsport, Oregon. It …