Firearms Friday: Going Silent

Those of you hoping to read all about silencers are going to be highly disappointed. While they are legal in my state and I do plan on purchasing in the future, this post has nothing to do with those over regulated and wonderfully useful devices. I am actually talking about something completely different and a little beyond the norm for this series of rambling posts. This is an opportunity for me to talk about my first experiences with target shooting and the hope to return to that much simpler time.

While I was first introduced to firearms while in college thanks to my former ex-Navy Seal roommate, the majority of our time spend shooting targets wasn’t at the range… and it wasn’t with firearms. We did climb up the old ski slope every now and again with our 7mm Savage rifle and Beretta M9 but the majority of our time peering down the sights was on that of a few air pellet rifles and BB guns that we picked up at Wal-Mart. We decided to save a few pennies so that we could use those pennies for target practice… literally.

Most of those early moments pulling a trigger were along the rural highways of Vermont with pennies perched atop and embedded in a snow bank. It was hours of relaxing, and sometimes frustrating fun, taking aim, splitting copper, swapping out CO2 cartridges and generally having a good time with some interesting conversations in-between shots. There have been several moments over the years when I would pass a Wal-Mart and hesitate for just a second before continuing down the road.

Now that my wife and I have some space to enjoy the outdoors and we live in an area were people respect the right to so whatever you want on your property so long that its legal, I have been tempted to partake in some of the quieter alternatives to firearms. While there are a few neighbors that, from time to time, will take their rifles into the back yard, I want to at least be considerate should I find this to be a regular routine. It is with this in mind that I have been thinking about picking up an inexpensive air rifle or crossbow.

It would be nice to head out the back door, set up a target, and send a few quiet rounds across the property. After all, I can’t always get to the range despite several options located within 10 minutes of our house so that might be a means to keep my limited skills from becoming completely dull. Not to mention that it would simply be nice to return to a simpler time and enjoy not just being in front of a target again but, at the same time, remembering those first few shots that got me hooked into this hobby.

Firearms Friday: Secure Your Carry!

We all have a box of crappy holsters somewhere.

We have all seen it and have ready countless gripes about it… someone buys a high quality firearm and shoves it in a dirt cheap holster they got at Wal-Mart... this is also known as 'crap carry' (in addition to having a few other choice descriptors. When you see it you can’t help saying something but there are few words that have ever gotten through the excuses… it does the same thing as the expensive holsters so why spend the money; I would rather spend the money on the firearm, everything else doesn’t really matter; it’s going to wear out anyway so why bother getting an expensive one. It is really a sad situation that such a fine piece of machining and mechanical art is tucked away in something that wouldn’t be fit to carry your phone.

I have never been a high end firearms aficionado or a big dollar holster buyer so don’t expect any suggestions along those lines. I like to have quality items that are moderately priced… the kind of items that people think you spent a lot of money on but that is far from the case. Along those lines, there are some great options on the market to make sure that your firearm is secure when you make the decision to carry. They meet all of my criteria: affordable, high quality, durable, secure, comfortable, and they fit the firearm properly.

Don Hume IWB holsters.. a good start. 

Early on, when I carried quite frequently I turned to a simple holster that got the job done. Not the best but certainly not the worst. During that time my Don Hume inside the waste band (IWB) holster held up pretty well. It retained its shape, secured my Glock 17, and it was only about $20 at my local gun shop (I got it on sale, I believe the full retail is slightly higher). Overall, it wasn’t a bad option at the time but there is one holster company that I use now that is far superior and only a few dollars more.

Alien Gear... better quality and warranty at half the price. 

I was first introduced to Alien Gear Holsters when I came across a number of their ads in various firearms related magazines. I also read and watched a lot of reviews at the time as I was looking to upgrade from my current accessory. When I finally explored the website I was surprised by the simple fact that the high quality holsters were half (and in some instances a quarter) of the price of their competitive counterparts. This opened up a variety of options for me and so I opted to take advantage of the 2 holster combo to replace my Glock holster and add another to the rotation. With combos starting at $50 there is really no other company that comes close to the value offered by Alien Gear.

DALTECH FORCE... maybe the best belt on the market. 

So, I now moved up to a good quality holster for those times when I make the decision to carry (I know, don’t give me crap for being inconsistent). However, a good holster (no matter the brand) can only do so much if you have a cheap and flimsy belt. Again, I was on the hunt for an affordable option as most gun belts hover around $100 and many are much more than that. Thankfully Pete from The Armory Channel on YouTube posted a video at the perfect time. We have similar mindsets (maybe because we are both from the Philadelphia area) and when he showed the quality offered by DALTECH FORCE I was intrigued. When he revealed the price I knew that I had to order a couple… they are the best belt (gun belt or otherwise) that you can find for around $40. On top of that the company offers free shipping on orders and Pete arranged for a 10% discount by using the coupon code “thearmorychannel”.

 So, in the end, you can buy a cheap holster and belt at Wal-Mart for about $40-50 and run into a variety of issues on a daily basis: unsecured firearm, sagging pants, unnecessary wear and tear on both your firearm as well as on your clothes and accessories, potential mocking by other concealed carriers, among many other issues. It just isn’t a safe or responsible way to carry. Plus everything is going to wear out in about 6 months (if you’re lucky) and you will be spending another $40-50.

Instead, you can spend a little more (around $60-65) and know that you have a quality belt and holster that will allow you to securely and confidently carry your firearm with you. In addition to the fantastic warranties offered by Alien Gear and DALTECH, you will get a lot of use out of each of the product and won’t have to worry about replacing them at any time in the near future. So, basically, if you’re cheap at the onset, in addition to being unsafe, you are going to end up spending 2, 3, 4, or more times the money in the end.

So Long Harvest…

While I don’t read as much as I used to I still enjoy opening the pages of a book when I have time and furthering my informal education. The greatest resource for any avid reader is a great used book store and for the last 15 years my wife and I had access to one of the best, Harvest Book Company in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, this weekend was our last trip to the warehouse as the store is closing its doors to daily shoppers and transitioning to a completely online storefront.

Over the years, my wife and I have made countless trips to both buy and sell books, DVDs, and CDs at Harvest and not being able to swing by the store on the weekend for some inexpensive entertainment is a little disappointing. I guess we are going to have to find another outlet that will be able to come close to the $2 per book that we are used to spending. While I am confident that we will be able to meet the price, I doubt that we will be able to meet the quality and selection to which we have become accustom.

Harvest was the place we would go to find items for ourselves, gifts for one another, as well as gifts for friends and family. All of this while being greeted by a staff that recognized us when we walked in the door and knew us by name. That may be a bit old fashioned for some but it is a hugely important to me and something that I am finding in fewer and fewer places as stores change, towns evolve, and online commerce becomes more prevalent.

That seems to be the trend lately as I have noticed more and more places changing around me. Buildings are being torn down, storefronts are changing, and some of the places that I remember going to years ago are long gone. Of course with books no longer containing paper, Wal-Mart discounting just about everything, and Amazon providing greater selection than could ever be found in a brick and mortar location I can’t say that I am really surprised by all the changes happening around us.

But, until this weekend, we still had Harvest where we could go and pick up those bundles of bound paper, movies, and albums at prices that couldn’t be matched online or in any of the major retailers around us. Now we will be forced to wait until the occasional sales when they will open their doors again. But no more spontaneous trips to Fort Washington and picking up those last minute inexpensive gifts. Things change but that doesn’t mean that I like it.

Investing In The Little Things

With so many things going on at the office and outside of the office with all of my other commitments and responsibilities there are some days when I spend very little time with my wife. While it is not an ideal situation, I have to keep busy and I enjoy the constant pace of life. Fortunately, my wife is very understanding of this recent shift but every once in a while I make sure that I step back and show her, in some way, that I appreciate her and support her in her work, her hobbies, and her education.

I try to listen when she needs an ear, embrace her when she needs a hug, and offer the little knowledge I have when she had a question but there are also other time when I just decide to do something a little more. When I am able, I try to include her (or at least offer) in some of the activities that I have going on constantly. I try to make her laugh as much as possible because she tends to get caught up in things and loses sight of the good things that happen every day. I try to do all of these things on a regular basis.

There are times when I wish I could have done more and other times when I try to think what I could have done differently to make things better but I am still a husband with flaws, as we all are, and so I am not always on top of these things. However, there are instances when things go right and all the other stuff going on kind of melts away. Sometimes it is as simple as relaxing with my wife laying on the couch or going out to a reasonably price lunch or dinner.

However, there are more extravagant moments (well, for us at least) when we go away for the weekend or occasions, like today, when we find an item on clearance that I know that my wife will get years of use out of. While searching for a number of things at Wal-Mart we walked by the electronics department and noticed a camera on clearance. We have been talking about replacing her Pentax for a while and now, seeing the severely slashed price, we had the opportunity to upgrade her. While there is a little bit of investment up front just the fact that we no longer have to buy packs and packs of AA batteries anymore will recoup our money in just over a year.

More importantly, it made my wife happy both in the moment and as she goes out on her little excursions during the warmer weather to take pictures. I have my hobby which I invest in on an ongoing basis and it is nice to invest a little in her hobby every once in a while. We both found the things that relax us and take our mind off of things for a little bit which makes the limited funds put into each of them worth the financial commitment. I can’t wait to see the amazing photos that she gets with the upgrade in her equipment!

Gluttonous Appliance Adds To Errand List

My wife and I headed out today to take care of a few errands which we had been putting off for the past couple of weekends. Obviously, nothing that was urgent but it needed to be taken care of at some point and today was the day. Our first stop was somewhere that used to not bother me much but, over the years, it has started to get a bit rundown. It is not the same place, and I am not the same person, that it used to be so I no longer look forward to entering the mall. The fact that there are aspects of the building that are starting to deteriorate doesn’t do anything for the overall appeal either.

Not surprisingly, this stop was so my wife could stop at a few places that are only found in various malls throughout the area. One thing that I did notice about one of the stores was that if you really want to increase your sales you might want to think about coordinating the prices you have in your store location with the one listed on the website. These people refused to honor the online price despite it being their own website. And we’re not talking about a few dollars, this was more like twice the price in person. Nice salesperson but the company needs a little work. Oh well, I guess you really didn’t want my sale. Fortunately, there were no such issues at the second store.

From there we drove down the street to take care of one of my least favorite activities… clothes shopping. It wasn’t for any big purchase, it was Wal-Mart after all, but it is still a less than desirable activity made worse by the fact that these crazy people had almost exclusively shorts out in the workout gear. I had to dig to find a freaking pair of workout pants. Thankfully, socks are much easier to find.

Of course, this trip wouldn’t be necessary if our dryer didn’t have an eating disorder. Like many of its elk, it consumes socks on a regular basis. Only one from the pair as I assume it doesn’t want to be seen as gluttonous. However, our particular dryer has a hankering for draw strings. Because it only eats half a pair, it has plenty of room for the countless draw strings that help to keep our pants up and our sweatshirts closed. Well, my workout pants were the victim of the latest nibbling and so I had to swim among the shorts to find something that would go past my knees at the store.

So, it didn’t take long before all the small tasks were taken care of and we were on our way to dinner. It wasn’t the best place to stop with the goals that we each have but we were actually pretty good and stuck with the healthier options on the menu. And so concluded our day. From there we made our way home in the Sunday traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway. No accidents, just highway congestion that seems to be ever-present on that particular stretch of highway.

And what was my thought when we finally got home. Was it that I was looking forward to relaxing on the couch and not watching the Olympics closing ceremony? No, it was a night of trying to get things done on the computer and the sense of dread when I looked into the direction of the dishes piled in the sink. Oh well, it has to get done at some point and tonight was the time to do it. At least the dishwasher doesn’t eat my socks.

Date Night

About halfway through the day I had enough and needed to take a break from the work, the cleaning, and sitting around the apartment in general. While I was being productive and getting plenty of things done, some long overdue, I was feeling a little bit of Jack Nicholson rattling around in there. Once I found a good place to stop I knew it was time for us to get up and out. There were a few things we had to get done, a few last minute gifts to pick up, and a few items to return so there was a productive motive to our trip but that was by no means the major motivator.

First stop… Wal-Mart. I know, such an exciting and exotic place to visit. After returning a few purchases from our Black Friday trip (we picked up/out too many DVD’s) we walked around store and picked up a few essentials (windshield wiper blades) and a gift. We were going to pick up a second gift at the ammo counter but there are two major problems in trying to do that. First, ammo is still in limited supply and, second, no one is ever at the ammo counter to help and employees seem to get lost on their way there when you request assistance (a third common problem is the fact that no one at Wal-Mart knows what you’re talking about beyond pointing at specific boxes).

Second Stop… Staples. I know, calm down, don’t be jealous of our exciting life. While we found an extra gift in the clearance section, along with a few other items, the main objective was to pick up ink for our photo printer (we’re only about two months behind in picking this up). The nice thing with Staples which I have mentioned before, I can utilize coupons and other discounts. After handing in all the coupons and taking off a little bit with some rewards dollars, the total cost was the equivalent of us simply coming in and buying the ink cartridge as full price. Not a bad trip.

With the handful of errands now completed, it was time to just be together and have a little bit of a date night so we headed off to do something that we haven’t done in a long time (probably about a year and a half), we went to watch a movie at the AMC in Plymouth Meeting. It was an optimal time to head to the movies as many factors were working in our favor: we had a Fandango gift card to cover the tickets, we both needed to take a break, there was a movie out we could agree on, and we have been long overdue for a date night. Sodas and popcorn in hand, we climbed the stairs and got settled in for the next two plus hours.
 

While “The Book Thief” is an excellent movie and I highly recommend watching, be prepared to be a little depressed. There is a deep sadness throughout the film (no surprise for a story that takes place in Nazi Germany) which can catch you off guard at times. Wonderful performances all around and a pace that is perfect for the subject matter and the mood of the film. It is a movie that you should allow yourself to get lost in and a story that should be wrapped around you like a new and slightly uncomfortable and unfamiliar blanket. It is for these reasons that I will not go into the details of the film and let you explore it for yourself.

 

After the afternoon movie, we stopped by the mall for a quick sit down dinner (a lighter meal after all the popcorn and soda) and soon after headed back to the apartment and back to work. Now that I have gotten a few more things taken care of I am now sitting down, talking to you, and drinking some fresh tea in an infuser cup I gave to my wife at the beginning of the day. Nothing like fresh, loose tea to end the day and calm you down from a work filled weekend. Time to head off to bed to rest up for a short work week but hectic week overall.

Would People Wait In Tents For A Tent Sale?

While we didn’t make it out of the apartment on Friday, my wife and I spent nearly the entire day going from store to store trying to get as many gifts purchased while the sales were in full swing. In the end, we could have done better but we could have done much worse. Our list isn’t completely crossed off at this point but there is a rather large hole in it with the rest of the items being relatively cheap and easily found on Amazon.com.

What did get in our way today was the desire to buy more than we really needed to get. Even though we purchase some extra items they were all cheap and we still kept ourselves within reason. However, Staples did provide us with a different challenge in trying to find more stuff to buy when we essentially had free money to play with… you know, when you have three things on your list that you need to get and a coupon that allows you to pick out several other things for free. I guess that was the best problem of the day.

One thing that I have noticed this year, more so than in previous seasons, is that all the sales remain the same throughout the holiday weekend. What used to be a heavily tiered system is now one that is nothing more than a sales plateau. Granted, there are a handful of items that are limited time (usually hours) offers but nothing that I would want to cap out for.

Granted, some of the selection is lost in the days following Black Friday Thanksgiving Thursday but there is still plenty of deals to be had in the aftermath. And by going on Saturday or Sunday you can avoid the risk of being tased trying to get in the door a half second before a disgruntled hoochie. I think that is pretty much a win-win situation.

It makes you wonder what is wrong with people that they have to miss work and/or time with family so they can camp out at Wal-Mart for a big screen television when you know they spent more money on the preparations for the extended stay in on the cold sidewalk than what they could conceivably save on electronics. Of course, as had been proven time and again, these people are whack jobs who will do whatever they can to get their hands on that discounted item (which will most likely be outdated within 12 months anyway driving the price down). This is just nuts.

Now, I have gone out on Black Friday, I have even gone out on Thanksgiving in the past, but I have never waited in line to enter a store, I have never fought someone for a product, and I have always walked out with everything on my list. If you have the patience and put in just a little bit of thought beforehand, it can be a very easy and smooth process. And that rule of thumb still applies to this day.

So, the next time the new Cabbage Patch Kid, Ferbie, big screen television, of laptop goes on sale put some thought into it… maybe there is a better place to buy, maybe you can get there 30 minutes later, avoid the line, and still get one, maybe it is, in the end, a POS not worth your time. Maybe there is greater discount at another, less popular, store. You don’t know until you stop, put away your tent and taser, and start thinking.