Over the last four years I’ve bought at least eight rifle slings. From the over the shoulder slings (which do not keep the weapon anywhere near ready) to complicated tactical slings. A year or two ago I ordered the “end all be all” of Tactical slings at the recommendation of a sales associate, then got it home and have had a hard time working that thing. It was complicated and I could not get it to work as described. Frankly, in a SHTF situation, I probably would have hog-tied myself with it, leaving myself bound, gagged and defenseless in the presence of an attacker. I had started to think that maybe it was just me, maybe I was the problem and maybe I was expecting too much from a sling.
My criteria was simple though:
1. The sling needed to be rugged and well made.
2. The sling needed to keep the rifle on the front of me near ready.
3. It needed to be simple to use.
# 3 was really important to me because in a panic, I can’t be fumbling with a sling. If I am not armed and need to become armed in a flash, I need to be able to just throw it on when on the move. If I am alerted to a potentially dangerous situation, I need to be able to put on the sling in one easy step, preferably at a dead run.
Stepping back a bit, you may be asking what the big deal is, asking why I have been on such a quest to find a good sling. Sure, I could rely on my hands to carry my rifle(s) but even holding the rifle with one hand leaves me one handed if I am going about my day and performing actions other than shooting. If I need two hands, even if I stay relatively close to the rifle, then I still have to make my way back to the rifle if someone is watching and chooses to take advantage of the situation. (It is not difficult to imagine a food raider taking advantage of seeing me prop my rifle against the side of the house while I carry things to the shed.) If I use an over the shoulder sling, then I need to reach behind me or drop the sling off before I can get the rifle into a firing position. So to me, a sling is a very important part of the whole weapon system. It allows you to keep the rifle on your body at all times, near the ready.
Last week I had a friend suggest a different sling to me. It was the Spec. Ops Brand Lonestar Rig – Single Point Sling. (Spec. Ops. Brand makes other slings, but I have not used them.) The sling was $35. When I opened the package, I could tell that it was very well made and rugged, one of the better ones that I have come across. It was simple. I attached it to my rifle in a couple of minutes and when I need to use it, I just toss it on… no muss, no fuss. It keeps my weapon near ready on the front of my body and allows me to use both hands for other activities while keeping my rifle in an effective location. So, I got finally found exactly what I wanted. Now I’m going to also buy a couple more of these for my other rifles.
I have no skin in the game with this company, I don’t own stock in it and I don’t know anyone that works for them. They simply created a high quality product that meets my needs, so I thought that I should tell others about it, so that maybe you can skip the eight other types of slings that I tried first.
Spec. Ops list this sling for $45 and I found it at Academy Sports for $35. – CT in Texas