Category: Review

Letter Re: Cold Steel Voyager-JWR Edition

Hugh and Capt. Rawles, I’ve been following SB.com for about three years now after reading How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It. That book and others opened me up to the insanity surrounding us, and I suddenly felt sadly under-prepared. Since then I’ve trolled the web, bookstores, and gun shows for tools to help me protect my family. My enthusiasm can probably be attributed to wanting to ensure my two little girls never have to suffer through the times depicted in Jim’s works of fiction. I have held out, for the most part, from purchasing …


Scot’s Product Review: Burris 2-7xx32mm Handgun Scope on the Mexican Mauser

I have long been a fan of Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper and his Scout rifle concept. It’s not the best tool for every application of the rifle, but his idea was to create a general purpose answer to the problem of striking a decisive blow on an animal up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds) at any distance the shooter could place a bullet into the vitals of said animal. He further specified that it should be handy and defined it as being one meter (about 40 inches) long and three kilograms (a bit less than seven pounds) in weight unloaded …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: CZ Scorpion Handgun

Some many months back, I viewed a video on YouTube about the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 handgun. (That’s quite a mouthful, so we’ll just call it the CZ Scorpion.) I was really impressed with the video testing the CZ Scorpion. I’ve had some other semi-auto only versions of full-auto sub guns in the past, and most didn’t impress me. They were just too bulky, or they flat out weren’t reliable. However, there was just “something” about the CZ Scorpion that caught my attention when I watched that video. So, I kept a watchful eye out for one at my …


Scot’s Product Review: Liberty Suppressors Mystic X

I am unsure when the term “force multiplier” came into use, but unlike many trendy phrases I think it is a good one. The concept is a military one, but it is useful in any endeavor. The basic idea is that we find something that makes us more effective than our competition whether in business, sports or combat. A force multiplier can be having more knowledge, better tools, strategy, or tactics or the ability to deceive. Another term for force multiplication might be competitive edge. A force multiplier can allow an apparently weaker opponent to triumph in the end over …


Benchmade’s Model 665 – By Pat Cascio

Having toured the Benchmade Knives factory several times over the years, one thing that has always struck me about it is how clean it is. I mean their plant is super clean. How they manage to keep the place “that” clean while operating several shifts is beyond me. Additionally, it is pretty darn quiet in the Benchmade plant. I was amazed some years ago when I watched the laser cut knife blanks in almost total silence; it was amazing to watch the laser slice through the sheets of steel. The one problem Benchmade has is that they have a difficult …


Scot’s Product Review: REDHED Modular Tools

Tools are essential for prepping and life in general. One must have them, unless you are a wastrel who hires others to do all of your work. I doubt if that applies to any of our readers. Working with and moving dirt are two of the most important jobs for which we use tools. We might need to rearrange soil for gardening or construction. One could imagine creating protective barriers should things take a bad turn. Removing dirt from places it doesn’t belong could happen after a storm. The shovel is the basic tool for these chores, and we need …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review – Kahr Arms CM40

There was a time, many years back, when some of the first double action only (DAO) semi-auto pistols started appearing on the market. I still remember the first S&W DAO pistols, and I tested quite a few of them, and just didn’t care for the ovey long trigger pull. I could have that on a revolver! To be sure, many of the first DAO pistols that arrived were really lacking in the trigger pull department; besides being long, some overly long, many had a hitch in their “git-along”. They were gritty, with humps and lumps along the entire trigger pull. …


Scot’s Product Review: Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System

It’s probably just me, but when I get a nice, sharp, new knife, my first response is glee at how well it cuts, but then fear creeps into my mind, the fear of dulling it. Making it dull means having to make it sharp again. Will it ever be as sharp as it was new? Sometimes I find myself trying to avoid using it and looking for a box cutter with a disposable blade instead. That kind of defeats the purpose of having a good knife, which led me to confront my fear of sharpening years ago. I’ve learned to …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Cold Steel’s Special Forces Shovel

Ever since I was a little tyke, which is going back many decades, I’ve had an interest in anything having to do with the military, especially military gear. When I was a kid, back in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, IL, my friends and I would play “soldier” or “cowboys and Indians” all of the time. These days, if kids are seen pointing toy guns at one another, the police are called. What a shame! I was the envy of most of the kids on my block when I was a kid. I had a genuine U.S. military canteen, complete …


Scot’s Product Review: CMMG Mutant Mk47 AKM

If you like the 7.62x39mm Russian cartridge but aren’t a fan of the AK47 or SKS, CMMG may have just the rifle for you. At first glance it looks like an AR, but the second look tells you something is different. They call it the Mutant because, while it uses a lot of the basic AR platform, both the upper and lower receivers are unique as they were re-sized for the cartridge and to use the AK magazine. In other words, it is not a standard AR by any means though some parts will interchange, like the trigger group, safety, …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Kershaw Knives – Launch 1

We have Hollywood to thank for portraying automatic knives as being demonized by not only states laws and statutes but fed gov laws, too. I don’t know where the term “switch blade” came from, and it is puzzling when you think about it. The blade doesn’t “switch” when you open it, does it? No, the blade on an automatic folder flings open when you press a button on the handle of the knife. However, for some strange reason, the ill-informed still call automatic opening folding knives “switch blades” for some reason, and they believe, stupidly, that an automatic opening folding …


Scot’s Product Review: Winchester Ammunition

Winchester was kind enough to furnish some ammunition for me to review in both .223 Remington, 5.56x45mm NATO and 7.62x39mm Russian. The .223 load was their 69 grain Match round while the 77 grain one was the 5.56mm Match load. All of the rounds were tested for accuracy, and it was a very pleasing experience. I should point out that while .223 and 5.56 look like the same round, the military 5.56 chamber is slightly different and can handle more pressure, so 5.56 ammunition should not be used in .223 chambers. It is acceptable, however, to use the lower pressure …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Springfield Armory XDm 9mm

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I’ve had a life-long interest in firearms, since I was a little boy back in the 1950s. I grew up watching all the western tv shows, like The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, The Cisco Kid, Roy Rogers, and many, many other similar shows. To be sure, it was a fun time to be a kid. Today, kids can’t even point their finger at someone without the police being called. It’s a sad state of affairs, to be sure. So, I take firearms and firearms selection very seriously. Additionally, as an NRA firearms instructor who is certified in several disciplines, I’m …


Scot’s Product Review: Emdom Gear

One of life’s little problems is how to carry the things we need. A lot of junk can go into pockets, but what about all the stuff that can’t, particularly in a self-defense scenario? We may have to hide our defensive equipment, but in some scenarios we don’t. That’s where gear like belts, chest rigs, and plate carriers can come in handy, especially if they have the Pouch Attachment Ladder System (PALS) found on most western military Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE) these days. PALS is a system of webbing that allow you to mesh one piece of gear to …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Ruger’s Model 77/17 in .17 WSM

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I remember when the .17 WSM (Winchester Super Magnum) round first came out, and I believe it was Savage Arms who was the first gun maker to chamber this hot, new round in their rifle. Everyone was jumping on the bandwagon to get this new rifle and new caliber. I sat back and waited for a while before taking a close look at the .17 WSM. I liked what I saw and what my results were in my testing. Still, I wasn’t about to run out and buy a rifle chambered in .17 WSM. Ruger recently announced their Model 77/17 …