Category: Review

Cold Steel AD-15, by Pat Cascio

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I’ve been an amateur knife designer since the early 1980s, and several of my designs have actually been produced by custom knife makers, as well as some factories. One custom designer went so far as to add my design to his inventory – never giving me credit for the design, nor paying me any royalties, but that’s okay, I don’t hold a grudge. Another knife company has been producing several of my designs for quite a few years now, and I actually gave them my design, to help them get their company up and running – no problem there at …


Blackstone Griddle, by Pat Cascio

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I learned to cook at an early age. I was raised by my grandparents – mostly my grandmother, since gramps passed away from a stroke when I was 12-years old. I had a good childhood – we were dirt poor, but so was everyone else in our neighborhood – but most of my friends and I didn’t know we were poor. I don’t want to bore our readers with much of this, but as an example of being poor, my grandmother would send me to the corner grocery store – there weren’t any big supermarkets like we have today, and …


MCK Micro Conversion Kit for Glocks, by Pat Cascio

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I’ve always been of the mind that the less you do to a firearm, in the way of customizing it, the better off you’ll be. I’ve come to this way thinking for a number of reasons, first and foremost is the problem of liability. So I don’t like to do a lot of custom work on a firearm for my own use. The grand old 1911 is the most customized handgun in the world – has been for a lot of years. I used to do a lot of custom work on 1911s – not only for myself, but for …


Kimber America Pro CDP II 1911, by Pat Cascio

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It’s difficult to keep up with all the various 1911 handguns that Kimber America produces these days. However, they produce and sell more 1911 handguns than any other maker – or so I’m told. However, there are several 1911 makers in the Philippines that produce a lot of 1911s. For the sake of argument, we’ll say that Kimber is the largest producer of 1911 handguns in the USA. I still remember when Kimber first came on the scene, and their very first 1911 was a full-sized Government Model. This pistol had all the bells and whistles than 1911 lovers wanted, …


Fighting My Flinch: The Mantis X10, by The Novice

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I tend to flinch while firing handguns. I recently tested the Mantis X10 Elite Shooting Performance System to see if it would help. My shooting improved significantly. Here is my story. The Offer On October 22 and 23, 2019, SurvivalBlog was kind enough to publish my article My Continued Handgun Search. In that article I wrote about my search for the ideal handgun for me, and mentioned my struggles with trigger flinch while firing handguns in self-defense calibers. The next day, Mr. Rawles forwarded an e-mail he’d just received from Mantis to test and evaluate their X10 Elite Shooting Performance …


SIG Sauer P320 Compact 9mm – A Fresh Look, by Pat Cascio

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A couple years ago, I reviewed the then new SIG Sauer P320 9mm handgun, that had been recently adopted by the US military – all military forces. And, to be sure, it was and still is an outstanding choice for our military handgun. The military wanted a modular handgun, that could be easily changed from one configuration to another – and in reality, I believe SIG Sauer was the only competitor to submit a truly modular handgun. Save the hate mail, please. I believe the Glock submission would have been an outstanding choice as well. As with many new firearms …


Ruger’s Model 57, by Pat Cascio

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As a general rule, I don’t like surprises of any kind. In my case, most of the time, a surprise wasn’t something good – at least in my eyes! But on December 31st, 2019, I was pleasantly surprised to get a press release from Ruger announcing an end-of-the-year surprise, to wit, their brand new handgun chambered in the high velocity 5.7x28mm centerfire. They sure kept a closed mouth on this one. I didn’t get any kind of a hint this gun was coming out – nor did many other gun writers hear about it. At first glance, the Model 57 …


Sportsman 1,000-Watt Portable Generator, by Pat Cascio

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If you’re serious about your preparedness, then you really should consider owning a backup generator! Of course, a portable generator isn’t meant for long-term use. It is mostly for power outages, that might last a few days or at most a few weeks. You can’t possibly store enough gas or oil, for operation of a portable generator for years and years. It is a short-term solution – period! There are so many different types and sizes of generators out there, it will make your head spin. When shopping for a portable generator, you have to keep in-mind what you intend …


CRKT Clever Girl, by Pat Cascio

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I can’t keep up with all the CRKT new knife releases that they come out with. Many come out mid-year, and I can’t spend all my time on the ‘net, searching all the web sites, that have products our that might interest SurvivalBlog readers. So, I was surprised when I heard from the CRKT public relations guy who told me about the new Clever Girl folder. This knife really isn’t aimed at the female market, not that a lot of our readers, who are ladies, wouldn’t love this folder…its massive and it will sure get the job done. Most readers …


Blackhawk 6-inch Trident Ultralite Boots, by Pat Cascio

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I’m sure a lot of our readers have heard this muttered, “if I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” Well, I can certainly relate to that phrase. When I was younger – much younger – I was totally indestructible, nothing could stand in my way – except for life itself. I will readily admit that, before I became a born again Christian, I didn’t lead the most honorable life – it was actually pretty wild in a lot of ways. Roger Simon, a newspaper reporter in Chicago, Illinois, once wrote …


Ruger Precision .308 Rifle, by Pat Cascio

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I’m sure this will ruffle a lot of feathers, but here goes: Just about any rifle – and even some scoped handguns – can be used as “sniper guns”. I spend far too much time in my local gun shop, checking out what is new and exciting, and what is used and priced right. Many times, when they are busy, I’ll step behind the counter to lend a hand with gun customers. And, I’ve heard this asked many, many times “do you have any sniper rifles?” and when that question is asked of me, I’ll point to all the long …


LA Police Gear: Clothing, by Pat Cascio

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“Clothes make the man (or woman)” and I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say that, or where it came from. However, I believe, they are talking about dressing-up, as in a suit coat and trousers, for a man; or in the case of a woman, perhaps a really nice-looking dress. The last time I had my suit on was when my oldest daughter graduated from college – about 18 years go – I doubt it still fits me, and I know that I don’t own a pair of dress shoes to go with it. I’ve held …


Kershaw Duojet Folder, by Pat Cascio

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Kershaw Knives brings out a lot of new knife designs each year, and this is to our benefit. I can’t begin to keep track of the newest folders from Kershaw each year, so I only select those that I think our readers will really like. Today, we’re looking at the Duojet folder from Kershaw. Ever since I was about 6 years old I have have some kind of pocket knife in my pants pocket. Growing-up in the 1950s and 1960s, just about everyone I knew – young and old alike – carried a folding knife. To be sure, these knives …


Group Industries Uzi 9mm Carbine, by Pat Cascio

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The Uzi submachinegun has a very long history, and you can read all you want about this outstanding sub machine gun, on the ‘net – be advised, there is a lot of history behind this gun, and worldwide usage as well. However, I’ll give some background on the Uzi submachinegun, for our readers, and then some history on civilian semi-auto versions on the Uzi – both licensed and unlicensed copies. The Uzi was designed in the late 1940s by Captain (later Major) Uziel “Uzi” Gal.  As was noted in the blog,  yesterday was his birthday. He was born December 15, …


Springfield Armory XDe .45 ACP, by Pat Cascio

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Quite some time back, I wrote a review of the Springfield Armory XDe in 9mm. It was an outstanding little gun, all things considered. I wanted to test this particular model, because it was hammer-fired, instead of striker-fired. I had no real complaints on the XDe 9mm, other than I was wondering, why it was so “big” compared to the XDs 9mm. Okay, maybe “big” isn’t the right term, but it is bigger than the XDs models in 9mm and .45 ACP. However, I wasn’t about to second guess Springfield Armory on this. After all, the XDe is hammer-fired, and …