Bobster Alpha Goggles and Prowler Glasses Review

Last month I posted up about the Bobster Alpha Goggles, and I have now had the chance to run both the Alpha and Prowler safety glasses in a few games of airsoft.

Sure it is airsoft and not real "operating" but it does put them through some good work. I have learned that running different goggles and glasses during airsoft games will show you which ones will fog up under hard use. Also taking a .20g bb at 350-400FPS gives a pretty good idea of just how stout the lenses are.

I will start with the Prowler Deluxe glasses. These have quickly become my favorite (which I didn't expect to happen), they are comfortable and offer better coverage of my face when combined with my smaller face mask. There are no gaps between the mask and the bottom of the lens so I don't have to worry about a bb coming through. 

As far as fogging goes, they do tend to fog up when standing still after running through a room. But they do clear out rather easily, and after treating them with some anti fog cream they do much better.

The lens is really tough, it has taken at least 5 direct hits from under ten feet away and there's no sign of damage. I did manage to mar them a bit when I dropped them after a game, but nothing I won't be able to polish out.

Overall they are extremely comfortable, provide stellar protection for my eyes, and like I said before have become my favorite to wear when playing.

Next are the Alpha Goggles.

These have to be some of the most comfortable goggles I have worn, the padding is beyond adequate and the clarity of the lens is amazing. Both the clear and the tinted lenses offer zero distortion.

The lens is extremely tough just like the prowler deluxe, withstanding multiple hits from close range with .20g bb's. The lenses are surprisingly scratch resistant, even after accidentally dropping them on the ground the lens remained unscathed.

As far as fogging goes, the Alpha does a bit better than the prowler but it still fogs up. This is an easy fix when treated with an anti fogging agent.

Overall the Bobster goggles have been some of the best I have come across, and there have been plenty of people asking about them in between games. I have highly recommended them to other players, and will say that if you are looking for some great safety glasses make sure to head over and give Bobster's site a once over cause they might have something you like.

The Evolution of my EDC

When I first started carrying concealed my EDC left a lot to be desired, it literally consisted of a gun and a holster. Sure I carried a pocket knife but it wasn't the best for EDC. I had never really taken the time to plan out what should be carried in my EDC, I just tossed a gun and knife on and thought I was good to go. 

However as time has gone by I have put more thought into what I should have on me at any given time. What I am allowed to carry at work is completely different than what I carry outside of work, and this is something everyone should take into consideration. 

On a typical day at work or outside of work there are 2 main things that you can find on my person. The first is a knife, something that is both useful for self defense as well as utility work. Which this recently has become the Boker Coye Ridgeback or the QTRMSTR B.A. Baracas, both are sturdy blades which are easy to quickly deploy. I have spent a decent amount of time with both of these knives figuring out which ways I can deploy them best and where on my body they conceal best while remaining easily accessible. 

The second item you will find is the Olight M10 Maverick flashlight that I recently purchased. For awhile I was carrying a flashlight that was given to me by my dad, and while it was a decent flashlight the size of it made it hard to carry in a pocket. The Olight M10 is small, lightweight, and has a pocket clip that keeps it readily accessible. 

At first I didn't carry a flashlight because my phone has one, however as I have read and studied more on self defense I realized that my phone would really only be useful to make an emergency call. Having a pocket flashlight that has a very bright light comes in handy in many different situations, from finding something I dropped outside, to clearing my house. It is important to have a light that you can trust and I have found the Olight to fit the bill for me.

Outside of work I carry my gun, lately I have switched between the Glock 19 and Glock 42 (which is in a very long review run). The 19 is being carried appendix in an Alpha Concealment Appendix IWB holster which is minimalistic and very comfortable. The 42 currently does not have a Kydex holster, instead it is being run in a DeSantis SofTuk holster while it waits on the PHLster holster that I recently ordered for it. 

When I first began carrying I didn't carry an extra magazine for the 19 because I figured since it holds 15 rounds that would be enough. However that mindset also changed as I studied more on self defense and also took the CFS class, what I have learned taught me that I should carry one or two spare magazines with me for the worst case scenario. Once spare magazines are available for the Glock 42 I will be picking up a few more to carry with me.

Some of the other items that have found their way into my EDC are the Bastion LLC battery back up, iPhone charging cable, and a small kit of bandages plus a few other small medical items. 

One of the biggest reasons I have decided to add the battery back up to my EDC is because my phone tends to drain it's battery about as fast as it charges sometimes. I would have loved it if I had the backup during SHOT Show when I was using my phone to take pictures, post updates, and text/call the people I was trying to meet up with and around noon my fully charged battery was down to 30%. I could only imagine how much it would suck if I was somewhere without phone access and my phone died, leaving me unable to use it in an emergency.

While this is not a comprehensive list of items that should be in an EDC kit, it is a list of the items that I have found to work best for me, and as I explained I have added items as time goes on. The most important thing is to know which items you will personally need, and have trained with. Also never forget that an EDC kit does not replace important things like situational awareness and common sense. While the goal is to be prepared for something bad, it is best to remain aware and keep yourself out of bad situations.

One more very important thing that I have learned, and I know it is something that is stressed over and over. Train with what you carry, wether you are training with your knife, stun gun, pepper spray, or firearm. Your skill is perishable, muscle memory will fade, and familiarity with an item will too. 

I am sure that my EDC will evolve more as time goes on, and I receive more training; but at this point I am comfortable in knowing that the items that I currently carry are items that I could use in a bad situation to give me an advantage and a chance to live.

Thoughts on the R.I.P. Updated Version

There are updated sections to this post, I pulled the original to rewrite a few items and discuss the round with a few others who I respect in the community.

So yesterday I log into Facebook and I see this new snake oil round called the R.I.P. (seriously?) and then I log into Instagram and it is all over the place there too, and I just keep shaking my head and saying that the round is a really bad idea. I even went as far as to watch the videos and check out the website to see what the craze was all about. While I hold my opinion as to how the round will work, or wether it will be efficient or not I do have very mixed feelings about it.

While the round may have awesome penetration and act like a hole saw, it will also draw the attention of an overzealous prosecutor who will use it against you. Let that sink in for a second. In the event that you ever had to use this round in self defense there is always the chance that you can be taken to trial, and in that trial a prosecutor is going to use everything in their power to make you look like you are a killer, who for all intents and purposes was set out to kill. Never mind the fact that those of us who carry do so for self defense and the only time we would use our guns would be in a life or death situation, the prosecutor wants to win. 

Also with the marketing of "the last round you will ever need" and calling the round the "Radically Invasive Penetration" round are just over the top. Marketing is marketing, but as I have said many times before, you can market the crap out of something and if it is a poor performer it was all for not. There have been plenty of things I have bought because they don't do marketing gimmicks, instead they have proven results. This is my opinion, and while some will disagree I hold to this.

Updated:

While there are no previous cases that show a person involved in a self defense shoot being charged because of the bullet that they used, Tim from Military Arms Channel made a very good point when he posted "the manufacturers have marketed it in such a way that I believe it presents a potential legal liability in civil court should I ever be involved in a self defense shooting." He is referring to the fact that the injured or deceased attacker's family could possibly take you to court.

Some of the other things that I have noticed as I have watched the video a few more times are that there is no proof that the rounds they are reliably firing off in the full auto guns are the R.I.P. they never show you the magazine filled with the round, and one of the other issues is that the ballistics gel they are using in the video doesn't seem to be the same density as many of the other ballistic gel videos I have seen (however this is just an observation).

There are just too many questions, on top of what I feel is an extremely gimmicky release video. Will I get my hands on some to try out on ballistics gel? Of course. Will I ever carry it? Nope, no way, I just see too many problems with it legally in the event I ever have to use it. 

For now I will try and keep my bias set aside on this round, I do want to get my hands on a couple boxes just to take it out and use it in ballistics gel to see just how well it holds up to their claims. I also want to see if it truly does function flawlessly in different guns as has been claimed. 

Post SHOT Show 2014 Thoughts

When I was told that SHOT Show was huge and I would literally not see everything before it was over I really didn't believe it. I am now a believer that there is literally no way to see every single booth and have time to talk to all of them, but really there is no need to because not all of the booths are offering the firearms or gear that I typically review.

Media day was a crazy place to be, but at the same time it was awesome because I was able to get some time behind some newer firearm such as the Glock 41, Glock 42, S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR AR-15, and ADCOR AR-15. Having time to talk with the representatives from each company and sometimes the owners helps to give a lot of background information that may not always be readily available. 

If I were to narrow it down to 2 things that I was impressed the most with it would have to be the Glock 42 and the S.W.O.R.D Intl SBR (also 16" setup).

The Glock 42 was something that I went in wanting to hate it because I thought it was the most ridiculous thing that Glock would bring out a single stack .380 while everyone else has been pumping out single stack 9mm's. Yet when I finally got my hands on it and felt how well it is made, how balanced it is, and how easy it is to fire and be on steel I was impressed. After talking with a few of the other guys and gals who were out there at Media day I am pretty sure we all came to the conclusion that Glock may have decided to release the .380 before the 9mm version because if they had gone in the reverse order of that no one would buy the .380 version. Either way it was a pleasant surprise and something I am looking forward to getting more range time with and doing further reviews with.

The S.W.O.R.D. Intl SBR and 16" AR-15's were both very interesting rifles to shoot. They are both piston systems, with S.W.O.R.D.'s compensator installed on them along with a few other great upgrades. The result was an extremely smooth shooting rifle that pretty well eliminated muzzle flip and walk. Getting on target and staying on target was a dream, every shot was a hit.

On the SHOT Show floor(s) I was completely overwhelmed from the beginning. The second I stepped into the Sands Expo Center I realized just how large the show was, it took over an hour to figure out where a majority of the companies were at and how to navigate the city that is SHOT Show.

Plenty of time was spent talking with some of the newer companies, gawking and drooling over many of the new rifles that are being released this year. Such as the Sig Sauer P556XI, Rock River Arms LAR-47, and the Gallow Technologies Weapons Storage system. There were literally so many cool things to see that I quickly felt overwhelmed and realized that there needed to be a system to the madness and writing down the companies I wanted/needed to see was the best bet.

                                                        (Rock River Arms LAR-47)

                                                              (SAR Arms 9mm SBR)

I talked with a lot of companies, some who I have been working with over the past year and others that I just met this past week during SHOT Show. Everyone that I talked to was genuine and a great contributor to the industry. There were many items that were interesting and that peaked my interest, and there were other things that I could not figure out why they were there.

Overall I was completely overwhelmed from day 1 and did not get nearly as much done as I had hoped to, however once I got my bearings and gained some speed I was able to meet many companies that will be working with us throughout this year.

Just to name a few of the companies:
S.W.O.R.D. International
Offhand Gear
SAR Arms
ODIN Works
Primary Weapons Systems
and quite a few more.

I am really looking forward to bringing as much new information to everyone, and introducing many new items.

Make sure to stay tuned in the upcoming weeks as new items start to roll in and new initial thoughts posts go up.

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Glock 41 and 42 SHOT Show 2014 Initial Thoughts

On Monday I had the opportunity to shoot both the Glock 41 and 42 that are being released very soon. I remember when I heard that Glock would be releasing these new guns and thinking to myself, why is it that Glock would release a .380 single stack pistol when everyone else has been releasing 9mm? While I did not get an answer from the rep at Media Day, I did get to find out that the Glock 42 was an extremely small gun that despite it's size still fit very well in my hands. 

As with any Glock the 42 is a shooter, it was extremely easy to ring the steel with and had little to no recoil.

                                    (As you can see the 42 looks very small in Lane's Hands)

The Glock 41 was probably the one that had impressed me the most, it was extremely easy to hold even with my "smaller" hands and it shot like a dream. Thanks to Glock engineering they have created a .45ACP that feels like it has the recoil of a 9mm. If you watch the video you can see that I pulled the first shot because I was expecting it to shoot like a .45ACP and was a bit surprised when it didn't.

                                                                        (Glock 42)

Are these the guns that the community has been asking for? No, no they are not. Matter of fact they have left many people asking why.

Are these guns that will sell? Yes because they are both very well made, and we all know that even when Glock releases a gun that people question at first, it still sells.

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Also make sure to follow @shiplane and @spartan_tc on Instagram for pictures and info of new gear we have coming in.