Author Archives: Andrew

Sheepdog 1.75″ Cobra Belt review

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Tactical belts blew up a few years ago as a must have piece of kit and now we have a source for a high-quality cobra belts made in Canada by a veteran owned company. Sheepdog Tactical Equipment and Training is based in Ottawa, Ontario and makes several products in-house including their 1.75″ Cobra Belt. It’ll hold your pants up, and then some. It features the current standard in the tactical belt industry, an authentic AustriAlpin Cobra Buckle.

Sheepdog belt marketing image

image courtesy of Sheepdog Tactical

Editor’s note: While the writer of this article is a friend of the owner at Sheepdog Tactical Equipment and Training, he paid the retail price for this belt for personal use. You dear reader are getting an honest gear assessment.

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Dlask VZ-58 Extended Magazine Release – Installation & Review

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In the never ending quest to make the VZ-58 easier to operate and more ergonomic, I’ve replaced the factory magazine release with an aftermarket option. Specifically I’ve used the VZ-58/CZ-858 Extended Magazine Release from Dlask Arms Corp. of Delta British Columbia.

installed

Dlask Extended Magazine Release installed

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UST 20-PLC6B-08 10-Day 6-AA Lantern

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UST 20-PLC6B-08 10-Day 6-AA Lantern; silly name, great lantern. A key step in preparing for a power failure is emergency lighting. Flashlights like the Fenix LD10 are a good start, but they are not always practical; try to light up a kitchen when cooking during a power outage with a flashlight. Ultimate Survival Gear also produces larger versions the lantern that use bigger batteries and have a longer run time. The lantern in this review is orange, but a variety of colours are available. 

UST 20-PLC6B-08 handle folded

UST 20-PLC6B-08 handle folded

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Glen Freaking Tate

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Holy crap! We got a facebook like from Glen Freaking Tate, author of the 299 days book series. Book 9 just came out last week and I’ve read it. Its amazing and sad. 299 Days IX: The Restoration on Amazon
Glen posted the image below and we shared it with our facebook friends.

train

we love Wes

Then this happened!

facebook like glen tate

Glen Freaking Tate liked our facebook page

I guess I need to make time to write some more, maybe I can grow up to be like Glen, ya know minus the lawyer bit. You can see our post about 299 Days books and patches here.

299 Days Patch and Books

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The best part of coming home is getting care packages from the post box. The other best part of coming home is that today isn’t the day that we suffer an economic collapse, even if that means the boss expects me to drag my sorry carcass in again tomorrow. If you have not already read them, this is your subtle hint to run to Amazon and order Glen Tate’s series 299 Days.

299 Days PVC Patch

17th Irregulars Patch

While you’re at it head over to the The Survival Podcast Gear Shop and order up a PVC patch or two. I got my 17th Irregulars patch today and couldn’t be more pleased. Continue reading →

Mail Call – Griffin Armament M4SD-II Muzzle Brake

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The brake I selected for my SPR build, Griffin Armament’s  M4SD-II Muzzle Brake, came in the mail today.

M4SD-II Muzzle Brake

Griffin Armament M4SD-II Muzzle Brake

As I understand it the US Navy SPR project/Mk18 uses an Ops Inc Muzzle Break. These proved difficult to obtain in Canada and are close to $200 US.  I’ve opted to use another Griffin Armament product after being very pleased with the compensator I used in my 11.5″ upper build. Since I can’t buy a suppressor in Canada, muzzle device selection is purely for recoil management.

Mail Call – NEA barrel and receivers

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Got my NEA package in the mail today. This will be the core of  my SPR build.

NEA parts

NEA 18″ heavy barrel and match receivers

I picked up the NEA-15 Z marked matched billet upper and lower from SFRC for a great deal. NEA is a relatively new Canadian based AR manufacturer that has had mixed reviews over the last few years. I have had a chance to shoot several of their rifles and a have one of their bolt carrier groups. For the price, nothing else could come close to the NEA receiver set. The upper is, surprisingly, complete. The lower however is stripped, as expected. I’m not super sold on the colour of the receivers, the finish is a dark grey.

I also ordered an NEA 18″ heavy barrel. Originally I was planning on exporting a White Oak Armament 18″ SPR barrel out of the US. Again the NEA product was priced incredibly low. This barrel is made of 4140 CMV, and features 1:7 polygonal rifling, and ARC+ finish. The NEA 18″ heavy barrel is set up as a mid length gas system, and while I was planning on using a rifle length system, I’m willing to try the mid-length to get an idea of the quality of the NEA barrel. 

Mail Call – Tricon Trigger

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The trigger I selected for my SPR build came in the mail today! Well yesterday but the postie doesn’t seem to leave any parcels or delivery slips at our house. Fortunately the tracking info online is updated when the parcel gets to the Post Office.

Super Tricon Trigger

Geissele Automatics Super Tricon Trigger

I selected Geissele Automatics’ Super Tricon Trigger for a few reasons. Since I’m putting this trigger in and SPR build specifically to shoot Service Rifle and maybe some Precision Rifle it had to meet the 4.5lb minimum weight for National Service Conditions Championship and Dominion of Canada Rifle Association rules. Secondly I liked the new design with the trigger bow flattening out towards the bottom and promising less sympathetic moment at the muzzle. Third its Geissele will almost certainly going be a good trigger.