The Wall of Shame

5.11 Taclite 2 Gloves
I really wanted to like'em but they are not duty ready.
From 5.11's website, "Our lightest glove meets the demands of patrol, driving, and everyday work."


Demands of patrol and everyday work eh?  I do not know how 5.11 defines "everyday work" but these gloves are not ready for duty use, or everyday work; unless your work requires you to knit teddy bears, oh nevermind these gloves would fall apart doing that as well.


"Duty gloves" in my opinion have two minimum/basic operations:  

• Protect the users hands from scratches, tears, etc. 
• Must be durable.
• Allow fine dexterity movement.

These gloves EXCEL at allowing fine dexterity movement, they are fantastic in how much tactile feel they allow, and flexibility.  
The lining in the gloves also provides some warmth, not enough to help your butt out in minus temperatures, but fine for the 40-30 degree areas.


These gloves have absolutely NO durability or longevity behind them.  They wear on you fast, like that friend that can't handle more than two beers or that opinated person in a classroom that has to weigh in on everything delaying the events for the rest of the day that have to transpire in the duration of the class time, or that geico commercial that happens to be the one and only one you don't like.  I believe they call this digressing...  


MOVING ON.  


I took these gloves out shooting twice, did some very minor house work, maintenance with my vehicle, and over course dry practiced.       


After that there was a small hole on the left glove's index finger on the side; no idea how that happened, the upper portion of the palm was showing major signs of wear and stretching, and on the right glove there was a large hole in the palm...


At approximately 35 dollars for a pair, you'd think that these gloves would have a pair.  
Oh you see what I did there?


But instead they don't, which is highly disappointing considering the amount of maneuvering you have while using these gloves.  I could totally understand that these gloves would fall apart say after something along the lines of being in country, or taking a four day advanced carbine course, or building a house but I barely used them and their falling apart at the seams, literally.


Summary: Gloves are not patrol ready, or everyday work ready.

Safariland 567 BL (belt loop)

Ordered the Safariland 567 BL

1.50-1.75"

          Simply put this attachment is made to replace the T-Adapter that comes stock with  Safariland holsters, which are meant for belts sized between 2 to 2.25 inches wide.  The BL (Belt loop -oooohhhhh FANCY) is sized to fit more normal sized belts, namely 1.5 inches and 1.75 inches.  This device is perfect if you do not want to go to the range wearing all your leather gear.  
          Now you can wear your everyday belts but still build that muscle memory without hauling all that extra leather.  This device is handy for those looking for a solution to get some training in with their gear but without establishing to everyone and their mother that they are law enforcement.  "But why wouldn't you want people to know that your law enforcement Jerry"  Well friend because a lot of people don't like LEO's, and more importantly some people target law enforcement and like to do bad things to them when they least expect it.  Example, or anecdote:  Recently went apartment hunting to find somewhere closer to my academy.  I tend to refer to people by mam and sir anyways, but this Sir asked me if I was prior military.  I told him that I was attending a police academy.  He became very uncomfortable and suddenly very quiet, and told me that while he had no problem with me or what I was doing, "Don't tell ANYONE else here what you are or what you're becomin'."  Good stuff.  Also some people just get all pasty white and become very socially awkward, strange, strange, strange.

Anyhow, I'll add an update to the aforementioned gear once received.

Take care guys and gals.

    

Safariland 6285 SLS Holster

The Safariland 6285 "SLS" Holster is one of the many holsters available from Ol' Roger's ex-company.

       The 6285 utilizes the Self Locking System, which to my understanding is a series of two events.  One the holster is molded to fit the firearm, and the hood that rests above the firearm once it is seated in the holster locks into place.  The hood is the primary source of your retention.

The 6280 

The functioning of the hood is superb.  It affirmatively locks into place and will not disengage unless the hood is pressed in the correct location.  There is a flat ledge located on the left side of the hood.  The ledge has serrations to provide a tactile feel and of course traction for one's thumb to stop on, for those you know... stressful situations like gun fights.

The 6285 rides 1.5 inches lower that the 6280

The 6285 Holster in its "standard" capacity is a level II retention system.  It can easily be upgraded to level III or level IV by adding a sentry hood, which essentially guards the top front of the hood that the user utilizes to disengage in order to get to the firearm.


       The location of lever or button which disengages the lock is easily found and actuated.  Due to the intuitiveness of the design it is also very easy to "relearn" one's presentation and get those times back down to where they were before.

      The holster is truly designed for duty use, and excels as such.  The STX version is preferred by me as I tend to utilize kydex holsters primarily, and from "research" not  actual use the STX tends to wear less.

     Now, for the problems...

  If you mess up the draw expect to be behind the power curve for quite awhile.

       The hood needs to have no interference in order to be pushed forward and cleared so the firearm can be drawn.  If you draw the firearm before the hood is fully cleared the firearm will be locked up.  You will not be able to disengage the hood the rest of the way, nor will you be able to wriggle the handgun out of what space you created.  The solution to this mess that you've gotten yourself into is to push the firearm back straight down into the holster to fully seat it, then push the hood fully forward, and attempt to draw again.     Simply put, you mess up, you start over.  
             This is of no fault of the holster, it is the user utilizing the device improperly. 


Additional Note(s):
          If you are one to modify you firearm by adding something along the lines of grip tape to the frame of your Glock or other polymer frame you're going to have some major issues.  If the grip tape on the firearm is placed anywhere beyond the grips the draw becomes binds up on the inside of the holster.  This can be easily remedied but it may be against your department's uniform/equipment regulations.


        I decided to go Gary Cooper style on my holster and add a thigh strap to the system.  I ordered a piece of 3/4" nylon from www.strapworks.com with some fast-tek style buckles at the end and had it shipped to me for about 3-4 dollars.
I then loosened the allen screws on the back of the holster, just enough to allow some space to feed the thin piece of nylon through.  Placed the nylon through the opening, re-tightened the screws, fitted the strap, cut the excess and ALAS I HAD ENDED MY JOURNEY THROUGH PERDITION!  I essentially turned the holster into a high ride thigh rig. It's comfortable and absolutely functional, but I know that my academy won't allow it for styles (CLASS A, B, C, ETC).  Range qualifications days should not be a problem, which is my first concern in regards to this holster.

Hope this was beneficial to you folks.

MRE's For Thought
Safariland has one of the most confusing catalogue systems.  Just take your time and work though it.

Online Tech Support is pretty worthless, they will do as little as they need to.

       Phone Support will do their best to answer you questions.  So if you have any doubts or questions CALL THEM, because they seem to have their stuff together, online support seems to be ran by a totally different company it's quite frankly B.S.




UPDATE as of 1/15/2012: 
 Safariland has launched a new website/script to allow you to search for holsters through their entire catalogue to find the exact style/model holster you want for your firearm.

HOLSTER FINDER CLICK HERE

UPDATE as of 1/17/2012
Got a question in the mail the other day about why I went with the SLS when I could have used the ALS (auto locking system).  Simply put, Murphy...  A little more elaboration.  I prefer as few mechanisms as necessary in my systems.  I want great retention, but not at the cost of having to push down, flip, push again, pull.  I do not like overly complicated systems, or systems that have numerous mechanisms.  The more parts there are the more likely there is something to go wrong.  If you want more protection than just the SLS, you could always had the hood guard to the top/front of the holster.  You can add this hood to the ALS systems as well if you want to go juggernaut style, but in my opinion that is way too much junk on your hip.  Get an SLS and a TDi Knife.  Set up the TDi knife for left handed operation, so that way your right hand can trap the firearm and your left can grab the knife and start performing some level 4 style retention.

Trijicon HD Night Sights 1st Impressions

After two days of handling my Glock 17 with the Trijicon HD Night Sights (Orange), I think that theyare really awesome Novak style sights.  They maximize the sight radius on your firearm, the orange (or yellow) photo-luminescent paint assists you in snapping from target to target, or point to point, and there is a decent amount of day light on the sides of the front sight for those more precision based shots.

So far the paint is kind of a let down.  It does not soak up ambient light or light produced by fixtures in a home very well at all.  It soaks up LED light like a champ, but if one didn't "charge" their front sight the paint is not that advantageous.

In some quick tests with the sights in testing the photo-luminescent paint on the front sight I found the following.  When I charged the front sight by using a flashlight with a max output of 48 lumens and held it directly in front of the sight for a duration of 30 seconds.  After the light source was taken away the front sight glowed a brilliant orange in pitch darkness for 30 seconds.  After the initial 30 seconds the orange dimmed significantly but the front sight still had a strong amount of orange glow around the tritium.  It stayed at this range for an additional 2 minutes and 30 seconds and there was a again a fairly sudden drop off in visibility.  The orange ring was visible but not nearly as much.  It held this glow range for another 2 minutes then dropped off to a point where it looked as though there was a slight red tint glowing around the green front.

So far, I like the sights very much, but I feel that the ideology of using the luminescent paint on the front as a sort of transitional sight, for one to move from one environment to another without having an extreme change in your sight's visual pattern.  Example:  During the day at the range, when I draw the firearm I see an orange front sight, at night I see an orange front sight; however, this is not the case.  The only way the orange really shows itself in darkness is if you charge the sight with a flashlight or some other pinpoint-able source of luminescence.

They are fine sights and they seem to be very accurate so far, but in my opinion I think Trijicon is over selling the paint.

Day time activity (BRIGHT SUNLIGHT DAY TIME) the front sight shows up magnificently, and FAST!

Early morning, foggy weather, overcast, or evening periods the paint is rubbish.

However I did note that the tritium in these sights seems to be say sharper than average.  I have had trijicons and meprolights and have been impressed with the quality and brightness of both.  When I first saw the tritium I thought that the HD's were in fact brighter than any other version from trijicon or sets from meprolight.  It isn't that the HD's are brighter they are more focused, and clearer, which gives the appearance of being brighter.  

This officer successfully did what so many others fail to do.

He got off the line of attack and immediately engaged.

Too many officers get off the line of attack but then run all the way back to their cruisers.

It's a psychological thing I believe, I'm not sure what the standard practice is nationwide for cops when they are suddenly engaged at a traffic stop, but running all the way back to your cruiser takes too much time.

I have assessed scenarios like these again and again.
"yeah but but who are you?"
Someone with a functional brain who can look at events that repeatedly happen, detect patterns, detect variables, and make an assessment as to what is going on, and what maybe should change so a different outcome is found.
 
I feel the best course of action is immediate break from the action (GET OF THE X!) immediately return fire and circle around the back end of the vehicle.  DO NOT STOP MOVING.

"but but what if the bad guy puts it in reverse?"

By the time he decides to run you over instead of shooting at you, you should have already cleared the rear end of vehicle and be on it's west side.

The reason I advocate moving around the vehicle is because you can pivot your firearm on a single area, your attacker cannot.  He has to turn to his body left to a degree, and right in order to continuously engage you.  Also if there are other people in the car he has to shoot around them, SO DO YOU, but it buys you time and it makes you harder to kill.

Officer is shot at while pulling over suspects


"but but what if all of em are tryin' to kill you, or only the passenger is or"

What if's are good games to play, but the fundamental idea is what should be applied and always considered.  Get off the X and immediately return fire.  

Equipment List

Here I provide a list of almost all the gear that was required of me, and other gear that I purchased because I felt it may become useful.

Disclaimer:  Note that not every academy requires the same items.  Not all the items listed are required by my academy either.  Some were just purchased as a means to increase knowledge, functionality, etc.

Equipment obtained:

Safariland 77 Double Mag Carrier Basketweave

Safariland 6285 1.5 inch drop level II Retention SLS Holster STX Basketweave

Aker 582 3X5 Basketweave Fieldnote book (Does not always come with the pictured inner notebooks)

Hatch Specialist Neoprene Glove

OLIGHT M20S Warrior Special Operations  flashlight

Shooter's Ridge Compact Field and Range Bag

Uncle Mike's Tactical Equipment Bag

Community Spanish for LEO's (not required by my Academy, I just felt it would be useful for future ref.

Hoppe's Boresnake (Viper edition)

Uni-Ball Jetstream Sport Bold Retractable Roller ball Pens (My favorite pens all throughout college and now)

3 inch binder

Otis Professional Cleaning System

Charles Leonard Clipboard - Masonite - 2 sided - 9" X 12.5"

Merriam Webster's Pocket Dictionary

Harbinger Durafoam Exercise Mat

A Police Officers Guide and Handbook to Tactical Casualty Care (under fire): First aid and self first aid for law enforcement By Rafael Navarro

Otis Variety Pack Receiver Brushes (Nylon, Blue Nylon, Bronze) 

5.11 Taclite 2 Gloves 

Bianchi Accumold 7965 Ergotek Padded Basketweave Sam Browne Belt 

Safariland 65 Belt Keeper Basketweave 

Safariland 90 Handcuff Case STX Basketweave 

5.11 1.5" Basketweave Leather Garrison Belt 

Kiwi Parade Shoe Polish - Gloss 

5.11 TDU 65.35 Poly Cotton Twill Pants - Dark Navy 

Glock 17 Gen 3 (9MM fullsize)

Trijicon HD night sights Front Orange 

Brooks Beast Running Shoe 

Rocky Tactical TMC Postal Approved Duty Boot 

Equipment Pt I

I put my Sammy Browne together a few weeks ago, and finally got my Glock 17 today.

Any who, I put the Sammy Browne together, and have been breaking in my Safariland 6285 SLS holster with my Glock 23 for awhile.  The holster works fantastically well if your gun is stock.  I tend to tweak with my firearms; nothing major though as I have very little courage for permanently altering something that cost me hundreds of dollars.  

I have my firearms set up for battle.  I have combat sights on my pistols and grip tape on key points.  The grip tape towards the muzzle end of the frame makes the gun stick funny to the holster and screws up the draw.  It did this with the G17 as well when I added the tape.  IT DOES NOT DO THIS WHEN YOU LEAVE THE GUN ALONE, SO IF YOU WANT AN EVEN MORE SIMPLE SOLUTION THAN WHAT I AM OFFERING TO YOU BELOW THAN JUST LEAVE THE GUN ALONE.

  

I fixed this problem by loosening the screws that attach the holster to what I believe is the UBL.  Then I ran a piece of nylon through.  I then attached the buckles at both ends, connected them, removed the excess material.

My father offered up the idea of cutting a generous amount of the excess nylon off but then leave around 4 inches to paste a piece of velcro down to both pieces so the loose end could be placed flush against itself.

This simple addition completely erradicates the problem, but I do not believe that the RTOs, or Coordinator, or Director will be OK with any addition to their criterion for our uniforms.  Despite the fact it provides an enormous amount of functionality for the cadet. 

I feel that would be like telling a DMR no you can't wear a sling with your rifle, because it doesn't match your uniform.  It's more bureaucratic stupidity, but you know what, "it's their rodeo, and I'm just one cowboy trying to get a good time."  - ME, yes I'm clever enough to come up with something simple and elegant.     

I think I'll put a full list of every item I purchased for the academy.  

And where I got it from.  I might include it in a link here or in another post so keep your eyes in the upright position.  

by the way, 4 x 6 leather field notebooks are huge and are for cucumber fingers, get the 3x5s from aker they are more than adequate.